Congratulations, 2020 GSPA First Amendment Essay Winners!

The Georgia Scholastic Press Association congratulates the following winners of the 2020 First Amendment Essay contest:

First Place: Alexandra Audrain, Marietta High School

Second Place: Emma Crane, Clarke Central High School

Third Place: Sadie Rawlings, South Forsyth High School

Judged by a panel of First Amendment Scholars, these essays exceptionally and uniquely addressed the following prompt:

In the First Amendment context, some scholars say it is possible to have a free society in which people have the right to call on the law to defend them against being offended or insulted. Other scholars say that is not possible. What do you think? Make an argument one way or the other.

Thank you to all students who submitted essays, and congratulations to the winners! You can read each of the winning essays below:

Rising Against Intolerance

By Alex Audrain

When the founding fathers wrote the Bill of Rights in 1789 and initially introduced the First Amendment, they intended to ensure the right to freedom of speech, religion, press, and passive assembly to, eventually, every citizen of the United States of America. They wanted to enable citizens to stand up to leaders or fellow Americans that they felt were not upholding the ideas and values of our nation. But is that how Americans choose to use those freedoms today?

In our current tense and combative political, social, and cultural environment, many argue that citizens of the United States abuses the privilege of having the freedoms granted by the First Amendment. A social media user will attack someone online that they have never interacted with because of a post, like, or retweet, and hide behind an anonymous screen and the vague argument of “Free Speech.”

Although granting citizens the ability to voice their opinions safely and openly is an imperative part of true American ideals, it is also absolutely necessary to create guidelines and restrictions that prevent someone from corrupting the opportunities granted to them by the First Amendment and evoking hateful speech, rhetoric, or displaying discriminatory or intolerant opinions and imagery.

Many citizens of the United States fail to comprehend the privilege of the level of freedom granted to those living in this country. Around the world, people are silenced by government and leadership of their opinions. They are not given the protection to safely voice their beliefs and values. It is imperative that everyone in our nation, even as young as those pursuing student journalism at their high school, understand the power that words can have. We need to use this opportunity and power we’ve been granted by the First Amendment to inform our fellow students and citizens of important issues and voice our informed opinions and beliefs, not spread hateful messaging used to hurt or attack others.

While I firmly believe in the importance of maintaining the rights of a person to call upon the government to protect their freedoms, I maintain the view that a person’s right to call upon the government to keep them safe and protect them from hateful and discriminatory actions or words is just as, if not more, important. There must be a middle ground where one has the freedom to express their belief systems, while also ensuring that their beliefs do not infringe upon the freedoms of another person.

Opportunities granted by the First Amendment are as much of a responsibility as they are our rights. They obligate citizens to speak up in defense of others as much as in support of their own beliefs. We must not sit idly by and only witness abuse of power, but instead, we must use our privilege to rise up against intolerance and hate.

___

The other two winning entries express different views.

Read Emma Crane’s essay here.

Read Sadie Rawlings’ essay here.