Survey Finds Disturbing Number of Students Believe Silencing Speech With Violence is Acceptable

Survey Finds Disturbing Number of Students Believe Silencing Speech With Violence is Acceptable

The students who agree with this should now be asked if they believe the same applies to them, personally.

Campus Reform reports:

REPORT: Disturbing number of college students justify shutting down speech with violence

Nearly one in five U.S. college students said they approve of violence in response to speech on campus in at least some instances.

A survey conducted by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), Real Clear Education, and College Pulse asked 20,000 students at 55 colleges across the nation questions regarding free speech issues on their campuses. Students were asked whether violence is acceptable to shut down a speaker they didn’t like and if it is acceptable for students to block people from attending an event.

Acceptance of using violence to stop speech or an event from occurring was at nearly 20 percent.

One percent of students said that violence is “always” acceptable, 3 percent said it is “sometimes” acceptable,” and 13 percent said it is “rarely acceptable.” That means a total of 17 percent of respondents condoned violence to shut down speech in at least some instances.

Results show that self-censorship is also an issue for both conservative and liberal students, but that conservative students are more impacted.

“Survey responses show that students who identify as Conservative are more likely to report self-censorship than Liberal students (72% vs. 55%). Moderate students fell between the two, with 62% reporting self- censorship,” the report stated.

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