Pooja Shah

ENGW 1100

September 21, 2016

Professor Young

Should students have the right to their own language?

The country that we live in today is claimed to be a “free country”, but in all honesty how “free” are we really? There's laws to tell us we can't do things, such as text and drive, there's rules that tell us what a person can say and where,that's not necessarily a “free” country, in my opinion. Yes, these laws and regulations are here to help us and keep the people safe, but they take away from the advertisement that America gives to the rest of the countries, about being “free”. The things people say should not be controlled by the people in charge of a country. As it says in the Constitution, “...Constitution prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of…. abridging the freedom of speech”. Our first amendment rights support the argument of having the right to speak whatever you want, in whatever language you would like.

The question of should students have the right to their own language is a topic many people see differently. In my opinion, I believe students should have the right to their own language, because it is a form of expression. A person can only say so much using the proper English dialect. Allowing a student to speak, write and communicate in a way they seem fit allows them to grow as a individual, giving them a way to make their writing, speeches and essays their own. For example, Donald Trump, a runner in the presidential election of 2016 says to Barbara Walters in December 2015, “I'm the worst thing to ever happen to ISIS”. Trump is expressing how he feels of himself and a group of people that has done harm to this country. Many would argue how controversial this is, but others appreciate that he can say this and will stand up to do something about it.

“The claim that any one dialect is unacceptable amounts to an attempt of our social group to exert its dominance over another”. This quote taken out of the first draft of the resolution says how if a language is not accepted, it just allows the common language and those who speak it to overtake the others. When living in a “free country”, everyone has equal rights, no one person is above another. Therefore, the theory of not allowing someone to express themselves, contracts for what we as Americans are here for, freedom.

However, even though students should have the right to their own language. I do believe that the individual themselves should know what is right from wrong. The correct time to say and do things. There is a significant difference from the way you would speak to your friends, whereas you would speak to your family, boss, professors, etc. If an individual is capable of doing that, and knowing what to say, where to say and what not to say, then there is no need to have a rule against not being able to use your own language. I believe that students should be allowed to express themselves the way they want, but the individual is also responsible for their own actions.