Background | Classroom applications | Internet resources | Appendix
Chapter
2
Individual Freedoms: Freedom of Expression
Appendices
Appendix A
Individual Freedom Scenarios
1. To protest new governmental policies, a citizen has decided not to salute the national flag during an official ceremony.
2. A city government has put up a religious display in front of the city hall. The display represents the beliefs of the majority religion in the community. Members of minority religious groups are upset.
3. A citizen writes a polite letter to the local newspaper criticizing a new law passed by the local government. The editor of the newspaper is trying to decide if the letter should be published or not.
4. A bus driver swears at someone crossing the street.
5. A citizen walks down a residential street around midnight, after most citizens have gone to sleep. He is carrying a radio with the volume turned up very loud.
6. A university professor wants to give a public lecture on a new, unpopular theory based on her research.
7. High school students publish a controversial article in a school newspaper about the private life of a teacher. The newspaper is distributed to all students in the school.
8. An office worker violates his company's dress code by not wearing a tie and jacket to work.
9. A group of university students wear yellow armbands to school every Friday to protest the university's admissions policies.
10. A very unpopular group holds a picnic in a city park. Some citizens are unhappy about this.
11. A government worker leaks secret information to a local television news station.
12. A group of university students, with non-traditional beliefs, wants to form an official school club that will meet on campus the first Wednesday of every month.
13. A controversial artist wants to display his art at the local library.
14. A citizen writes an untrue story and submits it to a newspaper for publication.
15. Five groups of parents do not want their children to read a book that is on an official school reading list created by teachers.
16. A 22-year-old wants to join a non-traditional religious group that has just entered the community.
17. A popular group of musicians has just released a new song. The lyrics support violence and hatred of minority groups.
18. A new television show includes bad language and violence.
19. An activist enters a library that has rules against talking and making noise. He begins to give a political speech in a loud voice.
20. A tobacco company wants to advertise its cigarettes during a children's television show.
(back to Classroom Applications)
Glossary of important terms
activist: a person who works actively for a cause or movement back
armband: piece of cloth that is wrapped around the arm back
controversial: causing disagreement back
display: a presentation back
dress code: rules about the clothes that people can and cannot wear back
leak: to tell or make known information that should be secret back
lyrics: words of a song back
policies: plans, rules (singular form is policy) back
protest: to express disagreement; to complain about
backresidential street: street where people live in houses or apartments back
salute: to use one's hand or arm to recognize something such as a national flag or important person
backswear: to use impolite words back
violate: to disobey; to disregard back
yell: to say something very loudly; to shout back
