STUDY: TEENS LEARNING – AND CHALLENGING – FIRST AMENDMENT VALUES 

Knight Foundation follow-up survey shows classes on guaranteed freedoms are on the rise, but so is student skepticism.

MIAMI – U.S. high school students know more about the First Amendment than they did two years ago, but they are increasingly polarized in how they feel about it, according to an update of a groundbreaking survey funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

U.S. high school students are far more likely to take classes that teach about the First Amendment than two years ago, according to the survey. And more students now support protections for the news media. They also are more in favor of their right to report in their own newspapers without school officials’ approval.

But more students today think the First Amendment, as a whole, goes too far in the rights it guarantees. A gap is widening between those who support this fundamental law and those who don’t. And teachers, while themselves increasing their appreciation of the First Amendment, don’t think schools are doing a great job of teaching it.

“We see progress,” said Eric Newton, Knight’s director of Journalism Initiatives, “but there are still serious problems.”

This updated 2006 survey questioned nearly 15,000 students and more than 800 teachers. The original 2004 survey, a $1 million study titled “The Future of the First Amendment,” questioned more than 100,000 students and 8,000 teachers – the largest survey of its kind. Dr. David Yalof and Dr. Kenneth Dautrich of New England Survey Research Associates conducted both studies for Knight Foundation.

The original survey suggested that the more students are exposed to the First Amendment’s rights – freedom of speech, of the press, of religion, of assembly and the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances – and the more involved they are in the news media and student journalism, the greater their appreciation of those rights.

Key findings of the follow-up survey include:

• In 2006, 72 percent of students say they’ve taken classes that dealt with the First Amendment, compared with 58 percent in 2004.<More>

• In 2006, 64 percent of the students said school newspapers should be able to publish without officials’ approval, up from 58 percent in 2004. And 54 percent of the students said all newspapers should be able to publish freely without government approval, up from 51 percent in 2004.<More>

• In all, of 14 questions in the study about the First Amendment, 10 show improvement in students’ education and knowledge.<More>

• At the same time, however, students say they felt the First Amendment as a whole goes too far. In 2006, 45 percent said the First Amendment goes too far, versus 35 percent two years ago. <More>

• In 2004, 38 percent of teachers thought the press had too much freedom. That figure dropped in 2006 to 29 percent. Student attitudes are improving as well, though more slowly. In 2004, 32 percent thought the press has too much freedom. In 2006, that figure dropped to 30 percent.<More>

“Students and teachers alike are starting to re-examine the value of this fundamental law,” Newton said. “But America’s next generation of citizens still continues to take the First Amendment for granted. We have to help teachers change that.”

For the full findings of the survey, visitwww.firstamendmentfuture.org.

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation promotes journalism excellence worldwide and invests in the vitality of U.S. communities where the Knight brothers owned newspapers.

Since its creation in 1950, the foundation has invested nearly $300 million to advance journalism quality and freedom of expression. For more, visit www.knightfdn.org.

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