My first day began with an inspired lecture-discussion on the First Amendment with Ken Paulson, President and CEO, First Amendment Center and former USA Today editor. Paulson hails from Elmhurst, Illinois where he graduated from York High School, a place where I've done human rights literacy talks. Given the apparent cultural illiteracy of many North Americans of our history, I guess I was not shocked when he said, "Only 2 % of Americans tell you what the First Amendment is, and only a third of Americans, according to a recent Gallup Poll, know the Bill of Rights." Paulson reminded me and my Reynolds Institute peers that the five First Amendment freedoms are assembly, press, speech, petition and religion. He stressed that our role, as high school journalism teachers, is to "protect that." Says Paulson: "I cannot emphasize enough what the First Amendment means." In response to a question I posed about what trends does he see in attacks to First Amendment freedoms in this anti-immigrant, racially polarized, homophobic, sexist era we live in, Paulson discussed recent controversies. After his formal session, I followed him in the hallway for clarification on two federal court decisions he mentioned where jurists had opposing rulings. "For more information, just type in 'Facebook' and 'students' on FirstAmendment.org and you'll discover why these two rulings are important,"he concluded.
Stan West
Hales Franciscan High School
Chicago, IL
No comments:
Post a Comment