This is the result of a progressive education, not a classically liberal (“free”) education.
Free speech has lost support on college campuses, while more students are comfortable with censorship, reports Alex Morey for FIRE. He cites two recent studies, in addition to FIRE’s survey, Speaking Freely: What Students Think about Expression at American Colleges.
The 2017 Buckley Free Speech Survey polled undergraduates nationwide. “More than 90 percent of students said both that the issue of free speech was important to them, and that there is educational value in engaging with differing or dissenting viewpoints,” writes Morley. However, half of students support campus speech codes that restrict what can be said.
- On hate speech: Sixty-six percent of students define hate speech in broad terms, responding that it can be anything one particular person believes is harmful and that hate speech means something different to everyone. Thirty-one percent of students think that hate speech is not protected under the First Amendment.
- On speech and violence: A large majority of students, 81 percent, think that words can be a form of violence, and 30 percent think that physical violence can be justified to prevent someone from using hate speech or making racially charged comments.
Thirty-eight percent of students think it’s sometimes OK to shout down a speaker and 58 percent want their college to ban speakers who’ve engaged in “hate speech.”