Civics with Dean – Class 3 – First Amendment & Freedom of the Press

For this week's class on the First Amendment, I was truly fortunate to have a special guest visit with us. Kim Haas is a reporter for the Union Leader, the largest newspaper in New Hampshire. I've worked with Kim for five years. (She once gave one of my ELO students an awesome opportunity – doing photography with the newspaper.)

I began with simple questions about the First Amendment. Did students know what rights are protected by it? We then zeroed in on freedom of the press due to our guest. I asked students why it was important to have freedom of the press. Kim chimed in with, "Great question. Why is it?"

Today's lesson featured the izzit.org video, Read All About It!, which explores freedom of the press. (Along with the interesting slant that Sweden was actually the first country to codify a free press in their constitution!) 

Here are some discussion questions from the Teacher's Guide that accompanies Read All About It!:

1.What are some responsibilities that come with freedom of the press?

2. Why do people or organizations suppress expression of speech or thought? 

3. How is the access to information and human advancement connected?

Another special guest, Rob Chatfield, President and CEO of izzit.org, was astounded at what the class came up with. One student mentioned that a free press provides a check on the government. Another said it provides citizens in America with the knowledge of what's really going on, without fear of reprisal.

Kim mentioned that our First Amendment freedoms come down to freedom of thought as well. Rob mentioned how these liberties matter on an every-day basis, impacting many aspects of our lives.

We talked about our individual, natural rights, our property rights, and how all these allow a person to direct their own life. How can we even discuss these rights - or issues or infringements against our other rights – if we don't have freedom of speech? Answer: we can't.

Freedom of speech is a cornerstone of our society. Of any free society.

For homework, I assigned students to take the quiz that goes with Read All About It! (Another part of the very comprehensive Teacher's Guide that accompanies the video!) The class average was 90%! (That's a successful lesson!)

Big thanks to Kim Haas for being part of our exploration of freedom of the press, and Rob Chatfield for coming to class as well!

Dean Graziano is the Vice-President of izzit.org. He is a multi-state, award-winning educator and former Curriculum Specialist Teacher grades 6-12 Social Studies, with over 25 years in education. He served on the Massachusetts MCAS Standard Setting Panel, and also selected by the College Board to be an Advanced Placement Reader for U.S. History. He worked on the historical inquiry model and a national presenter for ABC-Clio, a Social Studies data base company. 

In 2007, in a surprise visit to his school, he was awarded the United States Department of Educations' American Star of Teaching Award. Dean was selected as the 2017 State of New Hampshire's Extended Learning Opportunity Coordinator- of -the Year. Dean’s pilot program in Rochester, NH was singled out by NH Governor, Chris Sununu as the model for the State of N.H. Career Academies. In 2019, he developed and implemented a proposal to purchase a Mobile Classroom ( a new & remodeled 36’ RV, aka M.A.P.s) utilizing Perkins V funding, to bring CTE/WBL programming - leveling the playing field/equity for ALL NH students and spoke nationally at several ACTE Conferences on this model.

From the Homeschool Front … Created Equal: Clarence Thomas in His Own Words by Colleen Hroncich

On a recent trip to Washington, DC, I had the opportunity to attend a screening of a documentary that will be released in 2020. Created Equal: Clarence Thomas in His Own Words is an emotional journey through a turbulent time in U.S. history.

The movie producer spent 30 hours with Clarence Thomas and his wife Gini, which is an incredible level of access to a Supreme Court judge. Especially one who typically stays away from the media spotlight. The result is a fascinating look at Thomas’ life that gives the viewer powerful insight into the challenges he’s overcome. 

The film takes us to Thomas’ early days growing up in poverty in rural Georgia amidst rampant racism and segregation. He and his brother eventually moved to Savannah with their mom who found work there. Thomas recalls how different the squalor of urban poverty was compared to the relative security of rural poverty. Before too long, both boys moved in with their maternal grandparents, where they had access to indoor plumbing—and enough food—for the first time.

Having faced racism and inequality, Thomas was a revolutionary in college. He went to Yale Law School but no one would hire him when he graduated; in his mind that was because a black man’s Yale degree was viewed with skepticism. He was ultimately hired by Missouri Attorney General John Danforth—a Republican. At first, Thomas didn’t think he could work for a Republican. Eventually, Danforth became a mentor and a friend. 

Thomas gradually came to realize the solutions to the problems faced by minorities and the poor couldn’t be solved by government. He began to study conservatism and the philosophy of limited government and individual rights. 

After President George H.W. Bush nominated Thomas to the Supreme Court, one of his former employees accused him of sexual harassment. He vehemently denied the charges:

"This is a circus. It is a national disgrace. And from my standpoint, as a black American, as far as I am concerned, it is a high-tech lynching for uppity-blacks who in any way deign to think for themselves, to do for themselves, to have different ideas, and it is a message that, unless you kow-tow to an old order, this is what will happen to you, you will be lynched, destroyed, caricatured by a committee of the U.S. Senate, rather than hung from a tree."

Thomas won his confirmation battle and is now the longest-serving judge on the court. 

Clarence Thomas’ road to the Supreme Court wasn’t simple or smooth. He overcame poverty, a broken family, and systemic racism. Created Equal lets Thomas tell his own story. It’s tragic. It’s funny. It’s depressing. It’s uplifting. Whatever your views on Justice Clarence Thomas, you owe it to yourself to see this film when it airs on PBS in May 2020.

Colleen Hroncich loves that homeschooling allows her to learn right alongside her children. A published author and former policy analyst, Colleen’s favorite subjects are economics/public policy and history. She has been active in several homeschool co-ops and is a speech and debate coach.

From the Homeschool Front … The Law by Colleen Hroncich

In a previous post I discussed Frederic Bastiat, a French economist and politician who lived from 1801-1850.  One of his seminal works, The Law, was published not long before his death in 1850. At the time he wrote The Law, socialists in France were proposing government program after government program to “solve” perceived social and economic problems. Bastiat was trying to show people that the law is meant to protect their rights not violate them.

“The law perverted! And the police powers of the state perverted along with it! The law, I say, not only turned from its proper purpose but made to follow an entirely contrary purpose! The law become the weapon of every kind of greed! Instead of checking crime, the law itself guilty of the evils it is supposed to punish!” Bastiat gets off to a roaring start on the first page of The Law.

Bastiat goes on to note, “Life, liberty, and property do not exist because men have made laws. On the contrary, it was the fact that life, liberty , and property existed beforehand that caused men to make laws in the first place.” The law is the “collective organization of the individual right to lawful defense.” Thus the law should not be used for any purpose other than to defend the life, liberty, and property of all.

When the law is used to take from one group and give to another, Bastiat calls this “legal plunder” and denounces the practice. When the law permits the government to do to citizens what would be illegal for citizens to do to each other then the law has been perverted. Bastiat provides numerous examples of the injustices perpetrated by the government under the socialists’ plans: protective tariffs, subsidies, guaranteed profits, guaranteed jobs, and more. Examine these, he says, and you will find they are always based on “legal plunder, organized injustice.”

The best summary of The Law is probably Bastiat’s frequently repeated phrase, “The law is justice.” More precisely, he points out, the purpose of the law is to prevent injustice. If governments could stick to this definition of the law, freedom would abound.

Colleen Hroncich loves that homeschooling allows her to learn right alongside her children. A published author and former policy analyst, Colleen’s favorite subjects are economics/public policy and history. She has been active in several homeschool co-ops and is a speech and debate coach.