A new survey indicates that a shockingly high number of college students do not think speech they perceive as “hate speech” is protected under the Bill of Rights.
A new report by the Knight Foundation found that just 58% of college students agreed that speech deemed to be hateful was still deserving of protection under the First Amendment, while 41% of students disagreed with the premise that such forms of speech should be protected.
In their report, researchers from the Knight Foundation also found that not only do significant numbers of students find it acceptable to shout down speakers with whom they disagree, there is also a significant gender gap in the populations of students who find this to be an acceptable behavior.
While roughly 60% of college males said it is never acceptable for students to verbally disrupt a speaker on campus as part of efforts to prevent their speech, only about 40% of college females agreed that such behaviors were unacceptable.
Perhaps the most interesting discovery from the Knight Foundation survey was the differences in opinion of free speech versus inclusivity among members of different religions. While large majorities of Latter-day Saints, Evangelical, Protestant, and Catholic students responded with a belief that protecting free speech was much more important that promoting inclusivity, large majorities of Jewish, Hindu, Muslim, and religiously unaffiliated students responded in the opposite manner, saying that promoting inclusivity was more important than the right to free speech.
Despite the growing emphasis on inclusivity, there do appear to be large percentages of college students who feel people are too easily offended by what others may say. According to the report, 74% of college-aged men say people these days are too easily offended, while 51% of college-aged women expressed the same view.
While it is unlikely that many of today’s college students will see federal or state laws banning certain forms of hate speech anytime soon, these numbers highlight the importance of protecting freedom of speech and expression on campus, even if the views are different from your own.
John Patrick (@john_pat_rick) is a graduate of Canisius College and Georgia Southern University. He interned for Red Alert Politics during the summer of 2012 and has continued to contribute regularly.
