If there is one thing that many Americans can still agree on in today’s age it is that the Constitution is something that we hold very close to our hearts. The Second Amendment has gotten a lot of attention lately, and there is certainly nothing wrong with that, but Americans’ knowledge of the first amendment is frightening. Before we move on, there are five freedoms that each American is granted in the First Amendment. Can you name them?

If you can without cheating and looking it up on your phone, great job, you’re one of the few. According to the First Amendment Center, which conducts studies of the state of the First Amendment each year, 36 percent of Americans are not capable of naming any of the five freedoms in the First Amendment. This includes the freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, the right to assemble and the right to petition the government.

These five freedoms set the foundation for nearly everything we are capable of accomplishing as individuals when it comes to affecting political change in our community, both local and nationally.

It is because of these freedoms that you as students, faculty and staff of the Iowa State community are able to partake in the discussions dealing with the efficiency review taking place with the Board of Regents. You are able to share your thoughts and ideas on the future of an Iowa State tradition whose future is currently in limbo, Veishea. You are able to work to convince the university that a specified free speech zone is limiting to a public university that should encourage free speech, not box it in. The great question is, why aren’t you?

It seems today that the only place most people feel comfortable stating their opinion is in online comments under a clever, anonymous name. Unfortunately, this truly adds little to the real conversations that need to take place to move our community, generation and nation forward. This doesn’t mean that we will all agree with what another person has to say, but then again that is part of the point of the First Amendment to begin with. It offers each of us the chance to be thrown into conversations that make us uncomfortable, that make us think, that make us act politically to persuade others to our side, or be persuaded ourselves. It’s the entire building block of politics and their proper functionality.

However, the world of First Amendment rights continues to evolve, most notably for those that now speak online. Cases involving students, their university and personal Facebook accounts, such as Tatro v. University of Minnesota, where the university is trying to say that they have a say on off-campus speeches that takes place by a student on a social media site, are now becoming more common. The public, most notably students, need to be aware of these types of cases and help shape the future of online free speech.

Our nation’s greatest moments have come from someone who had the courage to assemble a protest, petition for change, write something that had the power to move others, or stand on a street with a sign and a megaphone. They were not afraid to tell others what they thought.

The internet would have you think that we are one of the most opinionated generations, but very little of that results in action that requires an individual to remove themselves from behind a computer screen and actually converse or act in person.

As today is First Amendment Day at Iowa State, Mary Beth and John Tinker from the famous Tinker v. Des Moines Supreme Court case and Cathy Kuhlmeier from the Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier case will be giving a panel discussion in the Memorial Union at 7 p.m. 

Get out and celebrate those five freedoms that have had such a lasting affect on your life and the life of our country. Stop being afraid of engagement or viewpoints that differ from your own. Who knows you might be surprised to discover that if you speak others will listen, or maybe you’ll be the one to have your life changed, but none of that will happen if you’re too afraid to have a voice to begin with.