Taking Advantage of our Freedom

In the 1700’s people debated on what can and cannot be said in public. Some believed that the government could not be criticized; others believed that they should have the freedom to say whatever they want, as long as they’re truthful. Since then a law has been passed that we know today as freedom of speech. Freedom of speech gives everyone the freedom to say whatever they want, whenever they want. The meaning of freedom of speech has been slightly twisted over the years making some people think it’s okay to say mean things to others. But is it really okay to be mean just because there’s no law against it? Should the freedom of speech laws be restricted, or should it be taken away altogether? Bullying is not something that should be allowed in America, but living without the freedom to say what you want isn’t something that would go well in America. Americans should restrict themselves from saying things they know they shouldn’t in order to keep freedom of speech, and also make our country a safe place for everyone.

In the early 1700’s it was considered a crime if you criticized the government, even if what you were saying was truthful. If someone was caught writing an article or newspaper that criticized the government they could lose everything they had, and be thrown into jail. This crime called seditious libel didn’t seem right. It didn’t make sense to prohibit people from stating the truth. Today seditious libel is not a crime because we have a law giving all American’s the ability to say whatever they want. This seems like a fair law, and without freedom of speech, our country would not be able to criticize the government. But some people have taken their freedom to say whatever they want too far.         

                                         

 

Some people think freedom of speech gives them a right to bully, or make fun of someone else. This issue has been addressed a lot lately. There were many people getting hurt because of other people criticizing them. Over the past few weeks my advisory class has been discussing bullying. During one of the classes we watched the movie “Bullied”. This movie is about a kid who was bullied throughout middle school and some of high school. He was beaten up and made fun of for three or four years almost every day at school. He never got help because teachers, students and even his principal wouldn’t do anything about it. Things got so bad for this one kid that he ran away from home twice, and eventually left his high school. If freedom of speech makes people think they have the right to be horribly mean they’re wrong. Freedom of speech laws were not passed so that everyone could be mean to each other, but so that everyone could say truthful things without being put into jail.

            

Watching this movie showed me that it’s definitely not okay for people to be mean to others because they think they have the freedom to say whatever they want. Bullying needs to be stopped, but it’s hard to end bullying without taking away the right to speak freely. If people start to be kinder to one another our country wouldn’t have to deal with this problem. Freedom of speech wouldn’t have to be taken away or restricted if all Americans could respect others.

 

 

Citations:

Picture 1: Freedom of Speech Protest. Photograph. lib.berkeley.edu. http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/FSM/fsmchronology1.html

Picture 2: Free Speech. Drawing. Clipartist.net. http://clipartist.net/svg/freedom-of-speech-august-2011-clip-art-svg-openclipart-org-commons-wikimedia-org-clipartist-net/

Picture3: Bullied. Drawing. Nbcmiami.com. http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/BSO-Screens-Anti-Bullying-Movie-130629818.html.