It’s time for everyone to re-read the First Amendment.

For those needing a refresher, it states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for the redress of grievances.”

Put simply, the First Amendment states that all are given the freedom of speech, press, assembly, petition, and religion.

“I think its especially important for out rights and its what makes America, America, you have the right to speak freely,” senior Holly Philips said.

In the recent years, it seems that more of that right has been silenced or muffled in the media. Which brings us to question, is our First Amendment right still respected?

“A lot of people say we respect it as a nation because they still wanna hold up the consensus that America is ‘Oh so great,’ but we can’t talk about anything political on almost any form of media because it ‘offends’ people,” Tia Conely (12) said.

Some state that the First Amendment is less recognized or even manipulated.

“Yes, because a single time you get mad at someone for saying something regardless of if it’s rude, discriminatory, or hateful it has an effect on people and one of the biggest ways we defend ourselves is ‘oh I have freedom of speech, I’m just using my first amendment right’ and just because you have that freedom does not mean you can say anything you want,” Conley said.

Some see the First Amendment shifting.

“I feel people now are very desensitized so I think they are gonna keep saying anything they want but there definitely are gonna be further disagreements in the future considering we’ve already had multiple reporters, debaters, politicians, and other random innocent people who are killed for using their voices to speak up,” Conley said.