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Britton Stark
Mr. Conrad
English III, Period 7
6 October 2014
The Voice of The Constitution
The Declaration of Independence states that, all men are created equal, that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, LIberty, and
the pursuit of Happiness (Declaration of Independence par. 2). This quote shows that authors of
this document had the idea of a perfect world without hate, without discrimination, and without
oppression. That is why they created, along with the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of
Rights, a document that outlines the primary rights and privileges of a United States citizen. The
Bill of Rights is made up of the first ten Amendments of the United States Constitution. These
first ten are widely considered the most important and influential of the Amendments. Although
some people believe that the second Amendment is the most important for its right to own and
bear arms, because of the right to freedom of assembly, and the freedom of speech, the first
Amendment contains the most important rights.
Some people believe that the right to bear arms is more important than the right to
freedom of expression. These ideas are formed around the premise that above all else, people
need the right to defend themselves. This idea stems from the fear that the modern government
will eventually change to be similar to the old oppression that America was subject to in age of
its institution. There are those who believe that the current state of the government is already too
over-reaching and restrictive for a country referred to as the land of the free. Another reason that
people argue in favor of the right to bear arms over the right to express ones self is because they

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fear the expressions and actions of other citizens. They fear what people will choose to do with
their freedoms if they were left unchecked by the reminder that all people have the right to
defend themselves if the situation should arise. Although the right to protect ones life and
property is important, the right to express ideas and grievances is more important to the growth
of society and government. These rights allow people to contribute to not only the government,
but also the country as a whole by sharing ideas and knowledge with the other members of the
community. By sharing peoples ideas, the government can ensure that they prevent
misconstruction or abuse of [their] powers over the people (US Const. amend. I.). So by
allowing the people to inform the government of its flaws, the need to defend ones self from the
tyranny of the government becomes irrelevant in the discussion of which of these rights is more
important. The right to speak freely about what ideas a person has also helps to grow the
cimulative knowledge of the human race by expanding the base from which information is being
gathered. If the general populous of the United States were unable to discuss the ideas and
beliefs that they have, the development of this country would be severely stunted. This would
prevent any new advances in either the personal lives of the people, or the operations of the
government.
The right to speak and assemble freely is essential to not only the general citizens of the
United States, but also to its students across the nation. When it comes to the rights of
Americans, there is little debate as to whether or not the people have them currently. In the case
of students throughout America, the rights that are spelled out in the Constitution are not always
applicable to them. Some people such as Danya Steele, a member of the National Coalition
Against Censorship, believe that First Amendment rights and how they apply to those inside
school walls is an issue that will continue to be debated in the years to come ("Students talk

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about levels of free expression."). The debate that Steele is talking about is the conflict of
students and whether or not they are affected by the rights of the Constitution. The major issue is
that many people do not believe that students are old enough to be entitled to the right of free
speech or the right to peaceful assembly. This is because the general population of the United
States do not yet respect the opinions or ideas of the younger generations therefore believing that
they should not have the right to spread such uneducated ideas to the world. There have been
some debates about this topic that have [triggered] First Amendment [disputes] that went all the
way to the Supreme Court (Tony). These disputes are important to students because it illustrates
the struggle for them to gain the rights that other Americans are already entitled to. Debates such
as these could be avoided by giving some of the most essential rights to not only the general
public of the United States, but also to the students that are destined to be the future generations
of this country. This is because if no one fights for the rights of the future, no one will imagine a
world where those rights are shared with the prodigies of the present. The rights that most
Americans today are entitled to are not entitled to the children of the next generation, or even the
following generation. These rights are key to the development of character in most Americans, so
by denying these rights to the students of the United States, the government is depriving the
future of this strength of character.
The first Amendment contains the right to speak freely and assemble peacefully which
are two of the most important right to both the average citizen, and the average student of the
United States of American. Students in the United States are often denied the rights of most
Americans because older people do not see them as full citizens yet. This point of view is very
old-fashioned and based around the idea that we live in a world where information is not as
readily available. Due to the advancements in the distribution of knowledge, more children are

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able to form opinions and gain insight into the ways of the world. The new ideas or opinions that
children are creating might be considered crazy or bizarre for their time, but all ideas eventually
gain their chance to be expressed. Students are taught from a young age about many of the ways
that the world works and what their role should be in this world. Freedom of speech is important
to the development of civilization in general and the human race as a whole because without
people to speak out against the cruelties of the present, the world will be ruled by the laws of the
past without any regard for the future.

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Works Cited
Declaration of Independence
"Students talk about levels of free expression." New York Amsterdam News 20 Nov. 2008: 20.
MAS Ultra - School Edition. Web. 1 Oct. 2014.
Tony, Mauro. "Why First Amendment still matters to students." USA Today n.d.: MAS Ultra School Edition. Web. 1 Oct. 2014.
US Const. amend. I. Print.