“I'm delighted if the survey shows progress in students' awareness of the First Amendment. I'm thrilled if it shows that more students are willing to work to demonstrate they can report and write responsibly for their school media without the principal looking over their shoulders.”

Wendy W. Wallace, Director
High School Program
The Poynter Institute

“Perhaps one reason why more students think the First Amendment goes too far in the rights it guarantees is media abuse of its protection. What is legal may not be ethical.”   

“Young people hate hypocrisy, and in their eyes using the shield of the First Amendment to protect unethical conduct may be hypocrisy at its worst.”

Randy Swikle, Director
Illinois Journalism Education Association

“The original First Amendment study and published findings were a wake-up call to America's educators and the follow up study indicates that many teachers stepped up efforts to incorporate more attention to the discussion of the First Amendment in their classrooms. This is a good start. But much is left that needs attention.”

Terry Nelson, Journalism Teacher
Muncie Central High School
Muncie, IN.

“This should be mandatory reading for anyone interested in our First Amendment freedoms. It also should be the starting point for discussions, in classrooms and boardrooms, on the role of media in society, where the public gets its information and what the media can do to increase its credibility.”

Richard Holden, Executive Director
Dow Jones Newspaper Fund

“It is encouraging to know that more students are learning about the First Amendment in their classes, and it is especially encouraging to learn that more students support the right of their school publications to print without administrative approval. It's discouraging, however, to learn that students still think First Amendment rights go too far.”

H.L. Hall
Journalism Education Association
Hendersonville, TN.

“I'm very encouraged by the new results. … Hopefully journalism teachers will make a point to stress the importance of the press rights in their classroom, using examples in history -- such as the Civil Rights movement – where press freedom was critical to establishing the freedoms we take for granted today.”

Joe Dennis, Director of Georgia Scholastic Press Association
Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication
The University of Georgia

“It's encouraging to see numbers from this study reflect some improvement in the way students view the First Amendment. Particularly heartening is the increase in number of students who think their own student media should be able to publish without administrators' approval. If teens take prior review and censorship for granted at the high school level, it will be much easier for them to accept such invasive practices in their daily commercial media – a very frightening thought. But if they begin to value such freedoms and appreciate the responsibility that goes with them, they should become the sort of citizens this country needs.”

Candace Perkins Bowen
School of Journalism and Mass Communication
Kent State University

“The updating of this study shows while progress has been made on  helping students and others understand the importance of the First Amendment in their lives, more work needs to continue.”

“Those in the most recent study still seem to have concerns that the First Amendment might go too far in protecting free  expression in this country.”

“This, indeed, continues to be a troubling concern, and one that we must continue to educate this generation on  the complexities of broad and protected freedoms being essential in our democratic society.”

Dave Adams, Adjunct Professor of Journalism
Indiana University

“At last a ray of hope about the First Amendment and our teens. We should thank the nation's teachers who read the groundbreaking Knight Foundation survey and took action in their classrooms. Student journalism programs are blooming - print, broadcast and online – giving young people hands-on experience with their First Amendment rights.  That's the best way to learn about the First Amendment, first-hand.”

Carol Knopes, Director of Education Projects

”It's gratifying to know that more education about the First Amendment is taking place in our schools. It appears that the initial study and the publicity it generated woke some people up. All this is good, but it still can't be an abstract concept. It's not enough to study the First Amendment in U.S. Government class and then walk down the hall to work on the newspaper and be told you can't exercise freedom of the press. Students need to be able to practice these rights. And, much to the chagrin of administrators, it's not always pretty when they do. Principals and, yes, even some teachers, need to get out of the way and let the First Amendment happen.”

Cheryl M. Pell, Director of Michigan Interscholastic Press

“Some progress has been accomplished but we need to continue to search out ways as well as partnerships that will assist in keeping education about the First Amendment and the freedoms that we cherish as a country at the forefront."

"We (all journalism professionals) need to think creatively in regards to ways to actively engage students, teachers and all citizens in the education process about the First Amendment in our nation's schools and its importance to the democracy we enjoy. … We have an important task of educating not only future citizens, but also current citizens regarding the correlation between the First Amendment and the democratic process we enjoy in this country."  

Richard Johns, Executive Director

Quill and Scroll Society

“The first study was a tremendous wake-up call for both the professional world and scholastic journalists. I’m not surprised that it has improved. The wake-up call had an effect.”

“I think Katrina had a huge impact with people who realized that people would not have known that the government had failed us so. The national media did an outstanding job and people realized the importance of what they are doing.”

Brenda Gorsuch, Dow Jones Journalism Teacher of the Year

“The increase in teaching the First Amendment didn't just happen.

Although it hasn't been attributed to a particular campaign, certainly concerted efforts across academia and society are due some credit.  On the bright side, now educators acknowledge schools should do a better job teaching the First Amendment. Shining the light on this problem surely set the agenda.”

Linda Waller Shockley, Deputy Director

“The results of this survey are extremely disconcerting at a time when Americans are being asked to surrender some of their constitutional rights and give more power to government. Many students are unaware of the rights that they may be asked to give up.”

Steve O’Donoghue, Director