Freedom of Speech
In a society where the media creates stereotypes, showcases imperfect celebrities as role models, and often hurts more than helps the public with its mad rush for ratings, musical expression is an indicator of the times, not a cause of crimes. If Ice-T's violent and degrading song is offensive, it is because the listeners ask for offensive. They want to rebel, to shock the world, and musical artists are more than willing to help them out. The problems of broken homes, misled teens, and a culture too reliant on its own powers and not enough on God are therefore reflected in the type of music it listens to. Though the abusive lyrics of musicians, especially rappers, are intolerable to some, the musicians have the same constitutional rights that every other citizen of the United States possesses. The First Amendment was originally created to provide individuals with the freedom to speak out against the government, but it also includes every other type of speech that may be banned due to its offensive nature. In some countries, it is considered a crime to even express opinions that differ from the holdings of the group in power. In the United States, however, we have the Bill of Rights that guarantees every person with any opinions freedom of speech. That includes every kind of speech. How could the government make a law censoring all "offensive" language? The term "offensive" is too broad to be defined. The definition would certainly change over time, and a person or group of persons would make the definition depending on what they believe, based on their own predispositions, to be offensive.
Them there is the question of whether or not it really makes a difference and deserves take up the time of lawmakers battling over the decision of what will and will not be allowed. I believe that a person's musical selection does not strongly influence his or her tendency toward violence. True, listening to garbage may not influence positive thinking, but it does not have the power to be the sole reason for a person's delinquency. A person's background and family life has far greater power of influence on personality than unrelated musical lyrics ever will. The key to the problem of violence and aggression that is seen in so many teenagers is a renewal of family values and morality.
Is music powerful enough to incite antisocial and violent behavior? According Johnson, Jackson and Gatto’s study on the deleterious effects of exposure to rap music, subjects in the violent exposure conditions (rap music) expressed greater acceptance of violence. Subjects in the violent exposure condition also reported a higher probability that they would engage in violence (Johnson). Music plays an i...
Imagine a time when one could be fined, imprisoned and even killed for simply speaking one’s mind. Speech is the basic vehicle for communication of beliefs, thoughts and ideas. Without the right to speak one’s mind freely one would be forced to agree with everything society stated. With freedom of speech one’s own ideas can be expressed freely and the follower’s belief will be stronger. The words sound so simple, but without them the world would be a very different place.
In the book Freedom for the Thought That We Hate: A Biography of the First Amendment, the author Anthony Lewis gives us lots of law cases following by the timeline to state how the First Amendment developed and what its meaning in both law and society is. By reading this book after listening to lectures about free speech and reading A Gift of Fire written by Sara Baase, the textbook for the lecture, I have learned more detailed about the history and definition development of the freedom of speech and hence came up some new thoughts towards my life.
In the United States, free speech is protected by the First Amendment in which it states, “Congress shall make no laws respecting an establishment of religion … or abridging the freedom of speech.” Now, nearly 250 years into the future, the exact thing that the Founding Fathers were afraid of is starting to happen. Today, our freedom of speech is being threatened through different forces, such as the tyranny of the majority, the protection of the minority, and the stability of the society. Now, colleges and universities in the United States today are also trying to institute a code upon its students that would bar them from exercising their right to speak freely in the name of protecting minorities from getting bullied. This brings us into
The United States of America seems to be protected by a very important historical document called the Constitution. Despite the fact that it was written and signed many years ago, the American people and their leaders still have faith in the Constitution. One of the major statements of the Constitution is the First Amendment, freedom of speech. Although it is difficult to decide what is offensive and what is not, it is clear to see that songs of rape, violence, bigotry, and songs containing four letter words are completely unnecessary for susceptible minds to acknowledge. It is reasonable to say that more people listen to music everyday and for that reason, music tends to be more influential. The American people should consider the idea of censorship of music lyrics that influence violence. We as Americans, have the voice to make artists think about the harm that their lyrics can cause their listeners and possibly change their damaging style. I think it would benefit the American people to research the effects of music lyrics on people, debate the findings of the research, and discuss the consequences and possible solutions for the problem. Those who see no problem with the explicit and vulgar lyrics of today's music use The United States Constitution to back up their rights. This very Constitution was adopted by a convention of the States on September 17, 1787 (12) and has been a ruling thumb in the actions of the United States Government. The current date is April 21, 1999—that's 212 years later! This is where the very popular freedom of speech amendment comes into play. This Amendment states: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exe...
Music with violent lyrics can increase aggression-related thoughts and emotions which can lead directly to violence. According to Craig A. Anderson, PH.D at Iowa State University, “Aggressive thoughts can influence perceptions of ongoing social interactions, coloring them with an aggressive tint.” Violent music negatively affects children by exposing them to things like Satanism, drugs, suicide, and sexual violence. Music depicting any type of violence to others causes and sustains the cycle of violence in youth.
It cannot be denied that there is an excess of violence in today's music. Eminem raps about spousal abuse and murder sprees, Marilyn Manson sings of anarchy, drugs, and atheism, and Limp Bizkit urges fans to "break stuff." Some critics argue that fans will take these words seriously, and act out on the urging of their beloved artists. However, if listeners aren't mature enough to know the difference between the fictional world these lyrics invoke, and the reality that they personally live in, perhaps they aren't mature enough to listen to it. If a young person seriously believes in the message he or she hears, perhaps it is because the parents have not done a sound job of teaching the difference between fiction and reality, between right and wrong. Too man...
My peer-reviewed article emphasizes violent types of music. It aims to find how songs with violent lyrics may affect your personality by inducing aggressive thoughts and hostile feelings. Exposure to violent music is found to be directly related to the expression of aggressive behavior seen in both youth and adulthood. Each study I will discuss are included in the article. I am reporting only on a subset of the studies.
Music, like mass media and television, has such a powerful influence on our society. People think rap music is very negative towards society, which is not the case. Rappers teach people about possible consequences a person may encounter if they choose the same route. Rappers tell their life experience through their songs. Rap music does not influence violence; it educates people on what is going on in the lives of urban people.
Racism, hate, sex, drugs, and profanity are among many things people encounter in everyday life whether they want to or not. The one thing that people do have control over is what kind of music they listen to and to take that right away from anyone would be more offensive than having the president of the United States of America get oral sex in the oval office, one of the most honored places in the country. People get more worked up over the things in life that mean nothing, than worrying about crucial issues. Our society can tolerate watching parents smack their children in *Wal-Mart more than they can stand to hear a curse word, or a sexual comment in a song. Music is an expression of the artist and should be treated as that. Censoring music is like telling Michelangelo he could not put the penis on “David”. The truth is that censoring music is an action that goes against the constitution of the United States of America and although some content may offend people, prohibition of freedom of expression violates the rights of more than those offended.
...tist or arousal properties of the songs. Even the humorous violent songs increased aggressive thoughts. The study also concluded that violent songs have implications for real world violence. "Aggressive thoughts can influence perceptions of ongoing social interactions, coloring them with an aggressive tint. Such aggression-biased interpretations can, in turn, instigate a more aggressive response -verbal or physical - than would have been emitted in a nonbiased state, thus provoking an aggressive escalatory spiral of antisocial exchanges," said lead researcher Craig A. Anderson, Ph.D. of Iowa State University.
The right to free speech is the cornerstone, the vital element which makes a leading path to other fundamental rights. It is one of the most precious rights we, as citizens of the world, have. This right gives people the opportunity to speak out their mind.
All people in the United States are guaranteed this right by the Constitution. Students, however, do not have this right to the same extent as adults. This is because public schools are required to protect all students at the school. The major aspects of this right are speech and dress. Both the right to speech and dress are not absolute in public high schools. According to the American Civil Liberties Union: "You (students) have a right to express your opinions as long as you do so in a way that doesn't 'materially and substantially' dirsupt classes or other school activities. If you hold a protest on the school steps and block the entrance to the building, school officials can stop you. They can probably also stop you from using language they think is 'vulgar or indecent'("Ask Sybil Libert" ACLU 1998). Public schools can also restrict student dress. In 1987 in Harper v. Edgewood Board of Education the court upheld "a dress regulation that required students to 'dress in conformity wit hthe accepted standards of the community'"(Whalen 72). This means that schools can restrict clothing with vulgarities and such, but they cannot restrict religious clothing: "School officials must accomodate student's religious beliefs by permitting the wearing of religious clothing when such clothing must be worn during the school day as a part of the student's religious practice"(Whalen 78).
Music, a popular outlet amongst the teen community for exploring emotions and blowing off steam. Times have changed, and the way music and lyrics are perceived has developed in a violent fashion. According to new studies, that have occurred, violent music lyrics increase aggressive thoughts and feelings. I chose this topic because music is such an influential part of our lives that it often dictates the mood we seize to exist in. If violent thoughts occur, what can come of it?
Music has a bad impact on people life and should be eliminated. The text, Social studies feature, page 97, paragraph 4 says “ Critics-- and parents-- were concerned that music was detrimental to its young fans.” This shows that harmful music to minors can have a bad life-time experience on their lives. Also Social studies feature, paragraph 6 states that Americans and government officials was shocked to find out the lyrics that minors and