The Difference Between Offensive and Predjudice

This week, we watched a video about school board officials and presidents debating how universities should react to students who try to take advantage of their freedom of speech. The teachers and presidents debated over the rights of students and when they should be allowed to speak freely on campus as well as when this freedom should be restricted. After hearing their arguments for each side of the situation, I came to the conclusion that if the students are not speaking in a way that truly encourages violence or prejudice, then they should be permitted to speak their mind and share their views with others. I do not believe that just because a student's opinion is unpopular or inconstant with that of the school's means that the student should be prevented from taking action and speaking out about his or her views. If the opinion is offensive, that does not mean much because anything can be considered offensive to just about anyone. If the opinion and speech is promoting violent action towards a particular person or group of people, however, then I believe it should be forbidden on campus. There is a fine line between speaking one's mind and targeting innocent people and turing others against them. I am not in agreement with the professors and university presidents who said that any offensive speech should be stopped at a college campus, but I also do not agree with those who said they could not put an end to any form of expression because it would violate the students' freedom of speech protected under the First Amendment in the Constitution of the United States. It is definitely a delicate argument, but I do think that there is a very important difference to notice between expressing an offensive point of view and expressing a prejudice and violent opinion.