I find it interesting that Wisconsin legislators have taken it upon themselves to regulate the speech of students. To summarize Assembly Bill 299, students will be reprimanded on college campuses if they speak out against others opinions. In the eyes of many legislators, this bill is built so that the freedom of speech of visiting speakers, for the most part, those that identify as conservatives, can be protected, but the bill brings up the question of if this is a way to limit the speech of students who do not identify as conservatives.
An example of a situation where this bill could take action, according to the Journal Sentinel, which is a member of the USA Today Network, is, “At the University of Wisconsin-Madison in November, conservative speaker and former Breitbart editor Ben Shapiro gave a speech to a conservative student organization and was interrupted by liberal activists. Shapiro had to stop his speech for seven minutes while protesters chanted and yelled.”
This bill isn’t a simple protection of conservative views though. Republican Representative voiced his concerns that the bill may be twisted enough to go against conservative students who may riot against abortions and gun control, along with other topics. The idea of conservatives being hunted down suddenly concerns Republicans, but if liberals are attacked, it's wonderful.
I view this bill as a way to silent the thoughts of liberals, and conservatives are just beginning to notice that it may be twisted around onto them also. I recognize that this bill may be enacted to protect speakers’ comfort levels when they are invited to a campus, but I truly believe that if they accept such an offer, then they should be prepared for students voicing their opinions, no matter quietly or loudly.
The speaker should recognize if their material is controversial, and they should be able to appreciate the spirit that may be in an argument over the topic.
“Rudeness is protected under the first amendment in my opinion,” Wisconsin State Representative Steve Doyle told the La Crosse community earlier this month while on a panel at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.
Rudeness may not be the most polite way to express one’s opinions about a topic, but it was expressed by legislators during this forum that the legislation should not be requiring that each school in the University of Wisconsin system must crack down on students if they act rude to guests. I cannot agree more.
The campus should be able to designate their own rules on what will happen to students if anything when they interrupt speakers while voicing their opinions.
If a law is set like this, students may believe that their opinions are less than those of people who come to speak on campus. They may believe that the government is against them and that their ability to manipulate their right to free speech is ripped away from them.
Should the government truly be striking down on young adults who want to voice their thoughts?
Shouldn’t the government be embracing it, so that students can advance in life, while believing that their thoughts should be used to change the world?