Increased support for First Amendment seen in U.S. students, says @knightfdn

This week, let’s hear what people are thinking. In the next three days’ posts, I’ll share data from recent surveys.

The first comes to us from the Knight Foundation, which sponsored a survey of young people on their views regarding the First Amendment. Happily, they are generally supportive of the basic right (thank goodness for small wonders). In fact, they may be more supportive of it than are adults.

That is actually a reversal of views that have been expressed over the past decade. The Knight folks optimistically indicate that “increased digital news consumption and classroom teaching are driving the change.” The national study of 10,463 high school students and 588 teachers was released last month, on Constitution Day.

The Knight folks continue:

“[The survey] found only 24 percent of students said that the First Amendment goes too far in guaranteeing the rights of religion, speech, press assembly and petition. In comparison, a Newseum Institute survey that tracks adult opinions on the first amendment showed that 38 percent of adults feel this way. This marks a shift: 10 years ago students (35 percent) were more likely than adults (30 percent) to say that the First Amendment goes too far.”

The report also provides great insight into impressions of privacy and surveillance.

Below is an infographic based on the report. And the whole report is available for downloading here.

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