From an infantile age, those of us born in the United States are taught that we have mastered democracy and that we are, if not entirely, mostly free.
We’re taught that we, as a nation, are the freest in the world. We can own guns, we have freedom of the press and we can believe in whatever religion we choose.
This isn’t exactly the case in Illinois, where university officials have began limiting student access to the Internet and social media platforms.
Students at Northern Illinois University received a monumental shock when they tried to access the school Wi-Fi earlier this month.
A student stumbled across the university’s acceptable use policy when he tried to look up a religious group on Wikipedia.
NIU’s new policy restricts pornography, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Foursquare and other social media sites.
The policy also bans “using resources for political activities,” including organizing or participating in “any political meeting, rally, demonstration, soliciting contributions or votes, distributing material, surveying or polling ... or completing political surveys.”
We all come to college with a central purpose in mind: to gain knowledge and experiences necessary to succeed in a competition-driven world.
College is supposed to be a time when you encounter and learn about opinions, lifestyles and choices that oftentimes conflict with your own.
In the eyes of the Editorial Board, unless it falls outside the boundaries of the law, universities are supposed to encourage students to stray from their comfort zone.
It is impossible, in our opinion, to truly grow as a person in college without receiving the experience in full.
Though Facebook may not be the key to unlocking the secret of an amazing college experience, it’s definitely a part of the freedom and autonomy that are so important to a college atmosphere.
Besides violating their rights as students, the Northern Illinois University administration is violating their rights as American citizens.
The Constitution of the United States guarantees citizens the right to political expression, the right to free speech and the right to peacefully assemble, among others.
By enforcing a policy that essentially strips students of their right to political expression, NIU is obstructing their basic human rights.
Overseas, in countries such as Syria, Egypt or Russia, the U.S. makes a point to oppose instances of Internet censorship.
Americans proudly link arms and sing “America the Beautiful” while yelling about how proud we are to have the freedoms we have.
Yet, when Internet censorship occurs on our very shores by a public university, no one is standing up to oppose it.
Some may argue that the school has a right to regulate what is accessed via its own Wi-Fi network.
However, Facebook or CNN don’t pose an immediate threat to the students of NIU.
Students aren’t rioting outside the administrative offices.
Instead, Northern Illinois University is overreaching in its attempts to control student conduct and thought.
The students would be protesting that, if protesting weren’t banned.
