36% of US students don't understand what country they live in

[James]

http://www.usatoday.com/news/educati...ts-press_x.htm

I don't do the news thing often but this one bugs me.

The survey of 112,003 students finds that 36% believe newspapers should get "government approval" of stories before publishing; 51% say they should be able to publish freely; 13% have no opinion.

I'm glad that 51% have a basic understanding of what living in a free society means but can't quite understand what's wrong with the rest of them. I'm not letting the 13% No Opinion crowd off the hook either.

James

[Joust Williams]

I'm in the 13% because of the vagueness. "Publish freely"? What the hell does that mean?

Here's a quote:

The survey "confirms what a lot of people who are interested in this area have known for a long time," he says: Kids aren't learning enough about the First Amendment in history, civics or English classes. It also tracks closely with recent findings of adults' attitudes.

Notice how that last part is not a quote from someone, but the NEWS. How did you make that decision from this poll? Maybe they're learning more than enough and don't agree with the interpretation of the Amendment. And that's what is wrong with the news...these people are becoming too insistent on pushing an agenda.

[Burky]

Yeh, I agree, the question is pretty vague.

I hate the newspapers are with celebrities. For example, like when Prince Harry in England went to a party with a shirt with a Nazi logo on, it was in the papers for a week. Frankly I don't care to know pointless shit like that.

Getting "government approval" though is going a bit too far whatever though.

Does someone have to be 18 to have their name put on TV, or newspaper in America?

[FirstBlood]

I'm in the 13% because of the vagueness.

the question is pretty vague.

You're both idiots. The poll isn't vague. People shouldn't have to get government approval to publish anything.

[Joust Williams]

But I don't think publishing freely is a hot idea either. So I'm in the 13 percent.

You're right...vague isn't a good word. The right one would have been "stupid" or "incomplete".

[ChaoofNee]

I hate polls.

The survey of First Amendment rights was commissioned by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and conducted last spring by the University of Connecticut. It also questioned 327 principals and 7,889 teachers.

One college and a bunch of random teachers and principals. That's a shitty sample group.

[Mman]

You either publish freely or you have some kind of approval system. There is no other option. Choosing unsure means you are not informed enough of the situation (which in this case, probably means you are not very smart, no offense).

[FirstBlood]

But I don't think publishing freely is a hot idea either. So I'm in the 13 percent.

You're right...vague isn't a good word. The right one would have been "stupid" or "incomplete".

You're still an idiot for supporting any form of censorship.

[Joust Williams]

Hey look, this just in: 400 Iraqi civilians killed by powerhungry US military.

I'LL BE A HIT AT INDYNEWS! and all those other crap sites. To be accountable, there has to be some sort of control by the government, no?

[Mman]

No. The accountability lies in the hands of the people (the readers). Large publications cannot post whatever they want because they will be called on it and sales will suffer. Smaller pubs w/ less syndication can get away with those kinds of things (this can be a good and bad thing, as they often touch news that the bigger pubs cannot). This is especially true with internet publications, which had almost 0 accountability (At least until blogs came along). Why should we rely on the goverment to choose what news is right for us?