Saturday Data: Free Speech

College Students' Views of Acceptable Restrictions on Speech.

Do you think colleges should or should not be able to establish policies that restrict each of the following types of speech or expression on campus?

	Should be able to restrict%	Should not be able to restrict%
Using slurs and other language on campus that is intentionally offensive to certain groups	69	31
Wearing costumes that stereotype certain racial or ethnic groups	63	37
Expressing political views that are upsetting or offensive to certain groups	27	72
HERE is the full Gallup poll. It generated an excellent article in The Atlantic that included this observation: While the survey does have items pertaining to social media, it has some trouble grappling with the fact that social media is now a natural and necessary extension of campus life, as opposed to a separate world with separate rules. The survey is limited—as is the free-speech debate—by an outdated reading of journalistic freedoms. “Do you think students should or should not be able to prevent reporters from covering protests held on college campuses?” the survey asks students, perhaps referring to instances like the mishap at Mizzou. A speaker at an Ohio High School talked about the children who took part in civil rights protests in Alabama in the 1960. She...:  ....recalled seeing reports of the Birmingham Children’s Crusade in 1963 to protest segregation. Birmingham, Alabama, police arrested hundreds of children who were also sprayed with fire hoses, hit with batons and threatened by police dogs. “I thought these kids were so amazing and brave and I was just 10 years old when this happened,” Tinker said.      Political Speech is about the most protected speech there is. TV stations have virtually zero right to edit candidate commercials.  [Saturday Data is a regular feature of www.timlennox.com]