I said what?

Freedom of speech.  Is speech really free?  Free from what, consequences?  Now that I work in education I see many people getting in trouble for their online activities.  Unlike commiserating with your co-workers after work, whatever you type on the internet is there for good.  I hear things that I shouldn't hear all the time at work.  I try and keep my thoughts to myself.  Why, you ask?  I was an Army reserve officer and was trained that every word I said held gravity and weight.  We were told to consider not only our actions but our speech.  I took this very seriously, as did many of my peers.


I see and hear many civilians complain about freedom of speech.  I swore an oath during my military time to uphold and defend the Constitution.  I believe, along with many Americans, that everyone has the right to speak freely.  In addition, I believe that speech is not truly free, not in the way that popular culture leads us to believe.  Socially, it is unacceptable to go up to someone and say something hurtful.  No one would argue for that, yet hurtful, even hateful speech has been protected by the courts.  Is there consequences for such speech?  Absolutely!  Employees have been fired for what they said and even what they wrote on the internet.

Along with the right to speech, we accept the responsibility of speech.  What is responsibility of speech?  For everything we say or write down, we are answerable for.  Be that our boss, our peers or society in general.  Even me writing this I am keenly aware of not only the intended audience but unintended audiences.  I measure what I write down with thought and deliberation.  Stream of consciousness might work for some, but it has got many into deep trouble time and time again.


-p