A few weeks ago, the Florida House Republican Representatives Dennis K. Baxley and John Legg proposed House Bill 837. This bill is referred to as the Academic Bill of Rights. The bill is clear in both language and content. It strives to ensure a free marketplace of ideas for all students to benefit from at any Florida public post secondary institution. States such as Georgia already have enacted this provision.
I am always a bit skeptical when government decides to regulate yet another area of our daily lives. But, in this case, I feel Education should be an open safe-haven for all opinions no matter the political ideologies behind them. From my experience, I have seen a present liberal bias in education. We fail to look at professors as human. Just like any other individual, a professor has their own interests, many of which might be to indoctrinate their beliefs into the students.
As this act will take effect July 1, 2005, we students can only hope that the act will not be used for anything other than its intended purpose. Much of the opposition to the bill comes from the various departments in the academic field. They like to argue that with this professors will feel censored and will not be able to teach to their full potential. I think they should just look at the bill in its simplicity without making such a big fuss about it. Essentially, this bill is going to help avoid instances such as when there is a viewing of the controversial documentary Fahrenheit 911 in a Biology class. This has and it still is happening across the nation at various higher learning institutions. Students often take what they see through the media or from what they are taught. An education which includes both standpoints is diverse and in depth. It gives us the students, the option to further agree or disagree, and actually think for ourselves rather than being told what to think. Furthermore, it prepares us for our future in whatever discipline that may be.
Ideally, the Academic Bill of Rights can be a very useful tool for all higher education institutions. Bill Lind, a former congressional aid and an avid supporter of an Academic Bill of Rights described at a conference in 2000: “Students have become fearful of what to say and write making it an awfully horrendous aspect facing the academic world.” In many ways, I think students hold back their true opinions in fear of not acceptance within their peers or even of their professors. It is almost as if our generation has become mentally lethargic and is unable to think outside the box. Students are afraid too often to say something offensive. They simply should not. The Academic Bill of Rights is taking a legal stand to these issues. It can be a great beginning to a new phase in education.
