2008 Woodie Awards
Is profanity free speech? NO
It is used to offend and should not be acceptable.
By: Sarah Peters
Issue date: 5/5/05 Section: Insight
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It was just one word printed on a simple, cotton T-shirt.
Just four small letters, but the word blazed out its offensive message with all the power of a neon billboard.
The shirt was designed to attract attention, which is exactly what it did when a student decided it would be a fine idea to wear it onto campus.
This is where abuse of the First Amendment has led us. The right to free speech is being misconstrued to the point where anything said or written is permissible. The point has come where not all words can be protected under "free speech;" these words are no longer expressing an honest opinion, but are used to incite a reaction.
It can be argued that obscene language is, in fact, a form of honest opinion. It may seem like a valid way of describing someone or something that is unlikable. It is, after all, a guarantee for all citizens to be able to express any opinion freely.
However, it is illegal to induce a mob to riot or to purposely cause public panic without due reason. Here, free speech is given limitations to protect the general public from harm.
Perhaps the student who wore the offensive shirt did it in bad humor and not necessarily mean to entice his peers into any kind of reaction. Then again, it may have been a personal slogan, a message meant to be offensive. Whatever his reasons were, they are now irrelevant and are not the matter of discussion. The controversy surrounds whether or not such displays should be allowed on college campuses.
On one side stands this decade's warped version of the First Amendment. Many argue that all forms of speech must be protected, because when one form of expression is censored, it will lead to more censorship and restrictions placed on other forms, and then eventually begin an elimination of free speech altogether.
This argument is a slippery slope that is attempting to persuade the opponent that a series of unlikely events stemming from the censoring of offensive language in institutions of learning will lead to a total annihilation of all forms of free expression.
Just four small letters, but the word blazed out its offensive message with all the power of a neon billboard.
The shirt was designed to attract attention, which is exactly what it did when a student decided it would be a fine idea to wear it onto campus.
This is where abuse of the First Amendment has led us. The right to free speech is being misconstrued to the point where anything said or written is permissible. The point has come where not all words can be protected under "free speech;" these words are no longer expressing an honest opinion, but are used to incite a reaction.
It can be argued that obscene language is, in fact, a form of honest opinion. It may seem like a valid way of describing someone or something that is unlikable. It is, after all, a guarantee for all citizens to be able to express any opinion freely.
However, it is illegal to induce a mob to riot or to purposely cause public panic without due reason. Here, free speech is given limitations to protect the general public from harm.
Perhaps the student who wore the offensive shirt did it in bad humor and not necessarily mean to entice his peers into any kind of reaction. Then again, it may have been a personal slogan, a message meant to be offensive. Whatever his reasons were, they are now irrelevant and are not the matter of discussion. The controversy surrounds whether or not such displays should be allowed on college campuses.
On one side stands this decade's warped version of the First Amendment. Many argue that all forms of speech must be protected, because when one form of expression is censored, it will lead to more censorship and restrictions placed on other forms, and then eventually begin an elimination of free speech altogether.
This argument is a slippery slope that is attempting to persuade the opponent that a series of unlikely events stemming from the censoring of offensive language in institutions of learning will lead to a total annihilation of all forms of free expression.