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High school students and their teachers differ on which of the five freedoms guaranteed by the
First Amendment are the most important, but speech and religion are by far the top finishers,
according to a new survey.
Students, by 65 percent, say speech is the most important freedom guaranteed, while 25
percent of students say religion is the most important right. A plurality of 42 percent of teachers
believe freedom of religion is most important, while 40 percent of teachers say speech is the
most important right guaranteed under the First Amendment.
The First Amendment to the Constitution is shown on the page of a history book. (Image source: Shutterstock)

The findings, released on Constitution Day, were part of the annual Students on the Future of
the First Amendment survey conducted by the Knight Foundation.
The other rights, freedom of the press, freedom to petition the government and freedom to
peacefully assemble all had less than 10 percent support as the most important right by the
amendment.
There is growing support for freedom of speech among students, however, Americans still view
freedom of religion as important, John Sotsky, director of strategy and assessment for the
Knight Foundation, told TheBlaze. Teachers and students have a different generational view
that reflects changing attitudes toward religion.
The survey also found that for the first time in a decade, more students than adults disagreed
with the statement: The First Amendment goes too far. This year, 38 percent of teachers and
24 percent of students agreed with the statement. In 2004, 35 percent of students agreed
compared with 30 percent of adults.
Sotsky said the proliferation of digital media could be one of the reasons for increased
enthusiasm about free speech among youth.
We see a strong relationship, but its hard to say if its causation, Sotsky said. Students are
using their phones to consume news and we are seeing stronger support for the First
Amendment. Digital media has freed up a lot of information.

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The survey found 62 percent of students use social networks and 71 percent read news online.
Many adults have purely been consumers of media, but digital and social media allows you to
be producers of media, Sotsky added.
An overwhelming 90 percent of students believed, People should be allowed to express
unpopular opinions, up from 70 percent in 2004.
Students generally opposed surveillance from government or business. But that depended on
how the question was asked. For example, 83 percent of students opposed government
surveillance, but when the question was rephrased to use terrorism as a rationale, opposition
dropped to 60 percent.
Similarly, opposition to business tracking of online activity dropped from 78 percent to 71
percent when the question was rephrased to explain the tracking was to personalize your
search results.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/09/17/religion-or-speech-students-teachers-differ-onmost-important-first-amendment-freedom/