Chapter 13

Question 1: Describe a situation in which you thought personal or public expression went too far and should be curbed? How might you remedy this situation?

When I was in high school, I was in an intensive government class, where we debated today's issues in a Constitutional context. Most of the time, everyone was very respectful of one another's views, and we didn't have any trouble with too much freedom of expression. However, I do remember one particular occasion where everyone was shocked at a statement from one of my classmates.
We were discussion abortion, and I understand that it is a very emotional issue for some people. Actually, it's a very emotional issue for me. However, when two of my classmates began debating fervently, I could tell that one of them, who was defending the more conservative side of the issue, was getting seriously upset by the arguments. Finally, in what seemed like desperation, my classmate demanded, "So you really don't care about babies getting chopped up and vacuumed out? Would you personally kill babies? I think that's sick!"
I think that there were probably some expletives in there too. Needless to say, the debate was over. The student who had exploded was escorted to the dean's office, and the student who had been shouted at had sat down, looking shaken.
While I think that everyone has the right to express themselves, I do think that some people, like the student above, can take things too far. People can speak their minds, certainly, but they shouldn't be attacking anyone or swearing or making outlandish claims that are only meant to injure.
Frankly, I don't think we can solve that issue. We can put restrictions on what people can say in broadcasts, in newspapers, on TV, in movies, but when it comes to people just speaking their mind, we can't do much preemptively. We can only castigate or arrest or fine them afterwards, when the damage has already been done.