SB17: Clarifying student freedoms – Hopkinsville Kentucky New Era

Lawmakers often avoid new legislation because they dont want to overregulate or create unintended consequences. Hence the adage, Nothing moves in government unless its pushed.

In other states, we have seen speakers uninvited, student-led groups denied the right to meet, and individuals mocked by faculty and peers because of their politically incorrect opinions.

Last years, California State University President Covino intended to reschedule conservative columnist Ben Shapiros lecture. The politically conservative student group who invited him held the lecture anyway. They were met with angry protestors blocking entry to the building. Students who arrived early enough to get in before protestors arrived were told by campus security to leave by sneaking out the back door.

The campus response? A safe space debriefing was held in the Student Union; not for the beleaguered conservatives, but for the liberals who felt unsafe having a conservative speaker on campus.

I disagree on many points with Milo Yiannopoulis, but I do agree that political correctness is, like the title of his new book, Dangerous. Students at UC Berkeley rioted recently, protesting Yiannopoulos talk on the dangers of political correctness. They broke windows, lit fires and caused over $100,000 in damages, essentially proving his premise.

Granted, the University of Kentucky is not Berkeley but the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education gave UK a yellow rating, citing concerns about the Universitys policy limiting free speech to specified zones on campus.

Schools should be places where truth is sought, intellect is developed, and ideas are tested and refined. Instead, students freedom of thought and speech are in serious peril.

Its true, the most egregious examples occur not in Kentucky but in other states- you know, the ones on the coasts.

Mark Twain quipped I want to be in Kentucky when the end of the world comes, because they are always 20 years behind.

But Kentucky might not be 20 years behind on this. It was in Kentucky, after all, that in 2006 Russell County High School Senior Megan Chapman was prevented from praying at her graduation.

And in 2015 that the Paintsville elementary Christmas program was censored, protecting students from the sinister A Charlie Browns Christmas. Thank goodness for the bravery of the administration in sparing those students from the terrible fate of the millions who have had to hear about the meaning of Christmas while watching this treasured classic.

Senator Juliann Carroll said in last years hearing on Kentucky Senate Bill 17, The Student Free Speech and Religious Liberty Bill, that people are so afraid of crossing over the line that they arent getting anywhere near it.

Passage of viewpoint neutral SB17 would make the appropriate line more clear for administrators, teachers, parents and students. Last Friday, the Kentucky Senate thought it was time to push or perhaps push back and protect Kentucky students. Now it is time for the House to act.

After all, what happens in California doesnt stay in California.

(JOYCEOSTRANDER is a policy analyst for the Family Foundation of Kentucky. She does not have a listed email address, but may be contacted through her executive director, Kent Ostrander at kent@kentuckyfamily.org.)

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SB17: Clarifying student freedoms - Hopkinsville Kentucky New Era