Poll: College Students Hostile Toward Free Speech
Regional News
Audio By Carbonatix
A disturbing new nationwide survey of 1,500 college students was designed to gauge students’ understanding of the First Amendment.
It found there is a lot of hypocrisy and ignorance on college campuses regarding free speech and the First Amendment.
The poll found a fifth of undergrads now say it’s acceptable to use physical force to silence a speaker who makes “offensive and hurtful statements.”
When students were asked whether the First Amendment protects “hate speech,” 4 in 10 said no, which is, of course incorrect.
Half also said that stopping a person from saying something they didn’t like, by shouting over them, would be appropriate.
Corrie O'Connor
