Spring 2000: "Access Denied, R-Rating, V-Chip": Should Youth Access to the Internet and Mass Media be Restricted? Activities/Lessons Below are teaching activities pertaining to the First Amendment. Clicking on links will launch a new browser window. Introduction of Restrictions of Freedom of Speech. An AskERIC (Educator's Reference Desk) lesson plan that demonstrates the restrictions of freedom of speech. Includes role play between teachers and student in order to facilitate a discussion on the aforementioned topic. Symbolic Speech An AskERIC (Educator's Reference Desk) Lesson Plan (Grade 9) showing how the Supreme Court affects our personal freedoms. The purpose of the lesson is to show students the role of the Supreme Court in respect to interpreting the law. The following 5 activities are from the Constitution Center's site: From Tinker to Fraser: Freedom of Speech in Public Schools This lesson gives students a chance to compare the decisions in the landmark Tinker case and the recent Fraser case. Students will examine court interpretations as to what kind of speech is protected in school by the First Amendment. Censorship: Is It With Us Today? This lesson examines some relatively current cases involving attempted or actual censorship and examines the societal values supposedly at risk: in these cases through brainstorming and structured discussion. This lesson is used as appropriate to continue an examination of censorship; it should follow a class examining the meaning and purpose of censorship. Censorship: In OUR School? This lesson requires the students to examine basic freedom of speech principles as applied by the courts to the public school setting and to hypothesize the situations under which censorship might attempted in their school. Lurid Rock Music: Free Speech or Obscenity? People are entitled to free speech, but are they entitled to hear what they want to hear? Teenagers are often not aware that a considerable group of people believe that what teenagers see or hear should be regulated. This lesson will allow them to confront this issue. Symbolic Speech: A New Look This lesson plan is an attempt to make students look at the topic of "symbolic speech" in a new way. The use of symbolic speech by protesting students in the 1969 U.S. Supreme Court Case, Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, 393 U.S. 503, is the basis for the lesson plan. New York Times Learning Network Lessons Archives You may download and print the following five lesson plans from this site, as well as the companion articles to be used with the lessons. Each lesson plan includes: Overview; suggested time allowance; objectives; resources & materials needed; activities and procedures; further questions for discussion; evaluation and assessment; vocabulary; extension activities; interdisciplinary connections; other information on the web. Click the lesson titles to go to the lesson plans. Click on the title of the companion articles to go to the articles for use with the lessons. Internet Filter Infiltration (Grades 6 to 12): Exploring Internet Filters and Creating School Internet Policies -- In this lesson, students explore the effects of Internet filters in schools. Students work in small groups to survey different types of people in the school community (students, parents, teachers, administrators and school board members) about their views on school Internet filters and draft an Internet policy based on their responses. Groups then compare and contrast the views of their respondents and develop a school Internet policy that takes into account the needs and perspectives of all of these different people involved in the school community. Companion article: “School Board Uses Computer Filter to Block Student Access to Web Sites.” Television CensorChip (Grades 6 to 12): Investigating V-Chip Technology and the Television Rating System -- In this lesson, students explore the current television rating system, its content descriptors, and the new V-chip technology that will more readily allow parents to control their children's television viewing. Students will work in small groups to define television content descriptors for different age groups and compare those definitions to the established television rating system. Students will then develop, distribute and analyze a survey related to these media topics. Companion article: “The V-Chip Arrives, With a Thud.” Wherefore Art Thou, Art? Exploring the Controversy of the "Sensation" Exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum of Art -- In this lesson, students explore many of the issues surrounding the controversial "Sensation" exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, including how one determines what actions to take if one deems that art to be offensive, the relationship between the First Amendment and art, and the possible ramifications of evicting the museum from its building. Students then support their opinions on the art exhibit in letters to people involved directly in this situation who hold opposing opinions to their own. Companion article: “If Mayor Succeeds in Evicting Brooklyn Museum, the Fate of Its Artwork Is Uncertain.” Second companion article: “Giuliani Threatens to Evict Museum Over Art Exhibit.” Assessing When and If the Media Should Be Regulated for Children: A Lesson for the Civics Classroom -- In this lesson, students evaluate and debate whether movies, television shows, and other mass media cause violent behavior in children and whether books are the same as or different from these other media in their potential for causing violent behavior in children. Students will participate in a round-table discussion regarding the regulation of different media that can contain violent content, and then students interview both adults and children in order to compare their views on these issues. Companion article: “Full Metal Dust Jacket: Books Are Violent, Too.” The First (and Last) Words (Grades 6 to 12): Applying the First Amendment to Internet Issues -- In this lesson, students understand how various issues regarding restrictions on the Internet are impacted by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. Students will participate in a round-table discussion of these issues, as well as develop, distribute, and analyze the results of a survey about Internet regulations and the applications of the First Amendment in our increasingly technological society. Companion article: “State Legislatures Across U.S. Plan to Take Up Internet Issues.” Pornography Debate From the Academy Curricular Exchange, Columbia Education Center (Grade 12) This is a timely and interesting activity for senior high school students. It provides government students with a study and the experience with the fundamental right of freedom of expression as guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution. The purpose of this activity is to provide students with the insight into the complexities of protecting the individuals right of expression. Censorship and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain Teacher CyberGuide from the San Diego County Office of Education (Grades 9-12) This unit provides resources for students in American Literature classes to explore the controversy that continues to swirl around the teaching and reading of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. In this unit on Huck Finn and censorship, students focus on the following questions: Why is the teaching and reading of Huck Finn so controversial? How have criticisms of the book changed from its 1885 publication to now? What is racism and is Huck Finn racist? Should Huck Finn remain required core literature in American Literature classes? >>The Issues >>Legal Background >>Interest Groups >>Activities/Lessons >>Other Resources Spring 2000 Summit Home | The Issues | Summit | Pilot Classrooms | Discussion | Experts | Student Poll National Online Youth Summit Home