Student survey shows poor knowledge of First Amendment

Photo: Peter Morenus

Kenneth Dautrich, chairman of the department of public policy, left, and David Yalof, associate professor of political science, conducted the Future of the First Amendment Study under a grant from the James S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

In the land of the free, American students, teachers and school administrators have a lot to learn about their liberties according to a study by two UConn professors that revealed a profound lack of knowledge about the First Amendment, a fundamental part of the U.S. Constitution.

Kenneth Dautrich, chairman of the department of public policy in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and David Yalof, associate professor of political science, conducted the Future of the First Amendment study under a $1 million grant from the James S. and James L. Knight Foundation. They surveyed 112,000 students, 8,000 teachers, and more than 500 administrators and principals at 544 high schools across the country.

“As a society, Americans value democracy and democratic ideals, but the public education system is not putting any type of focus on preparing students to be better citizens in a democracy,” says Dautrich.

The study found nearly three-quarters of high school students surveyed did not know how they felt about the First Amendment or took it for granted. After hearing the text of the First Amendment, more than 35 percent of students said they thought it went too far in the rights it guarantees, including freedom of the press, religion and assembly.

Among other findings: about 75 percent of students polled thought flag burning was illegal, most school administrators said learning about the First Amendment was important, but not a top priority, and 40 percent of high schools without student newspapers had eliminated them within the past five years.

The survey also showed that students taking media or First Amendment classes were more likely to believe Americans should be allowed to express unpopular opinions.

 Dautrich says the idea for the Future of the First Amendment study grew out of similar surveys of adults UConn has been conducting for the Freedom Forum since 1997. The studies show how support for the First Amendment waxes and wanes and was at a low ebb immediately following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Overall, the adult survey results “painted a very grim picture of the extent to which Americans valued and supported freedom of expression,” Dautrich says. Polling young people seemed the next logical step.

“We needed to find out not only what high school students knew about the First Amendment, but also how to begin to come up with ways to strengthen the First Amendment,” Dautrich says.

“I think we expected to find high school students would, as adults do, take the First Amendment for granted, and most would not be thinking about it at all,” Yalof says. “But there never had been any kind of systematic exploration of this anecdotal belief.”

What they discovered mirrored many of their expectations. The survey results made a major media splash when released in January 2005, as Iraqi citizens were voting in their first democratic election.

“We didn’t put a global framework on it, but other people have,” Yalof says. “There is some irony that while we’re fighting to bring freedom abroad, there’s still some work to be done at home to shore up appreciation for those freedoms.”

The data has hit home among educators.

“We know that journalism instructors, school administrators and educational leaders are very concerned about these developments, [showing] the First Amendment is being ‘left behind,’” says Yalof.

The two researchers say they are heartened by the finding that students working on school newspapers or taking classes dealing with First Amendment issues develop a greater understanding of—and appreciation for—those issues.

“One thing we found is if you do provide educational opportunities for high school students, it will make a difference,” says Yalof.

Marcel Dufresne, UConn associate professor of journalism, suggests those opportunities span a wider range of subjects.

“I’m not surprised at these results,” says Dufresne, who received the national Distinguished Teaching in Journalism Award from the Society of Professional Journalists in 2002. “This study shows why journalism helps instill appreciation of the First Amendment, but I often see students with very little understanding of politics, civics and how government works.

Dufresne believes the federal government should develop educational materials for schools containing information about the First Amendment, which also could be integrated with “existing history, politics and current affairs courses—all very appropriate places.”

Dautrich contends teachers can best communicate the importance of the First Amendment by showing students “how it is relevant to things that are important to them.”

Dufresne agrees, noting, “The real challenge is making students understand why they should care. Schools do have a role in this, but unless it’s mandated in the curriculumI don’t see public high schools doing much to promote it.”

— Karen Singer ’73 (CLAS)