The First Amendment, freedom of speech was ratified on December 15th, 1791. Fastforwarding to present day, we still use it. But do we use it with respect, responsibility, or the right attitude?

Respect. The ability to have an opinion and voice it, but a restraint to portray it in a negative manner. A woman states her political views on social media talking about her opinions of the president and get of feedback. She has the option to comeback with hurtful commentary. Instead she ignores it and turns off comment.

Responsibility. The ability to have this right, but not to abuse it. A man has a religion and his beliefs are different than his coworkers. They both believe they are superior. They could use violent words to tear each other down. But they know hate speech isn’t protected under the First Amendment. They keep their negative comments to themselves and continue to do their job.

Right Attitude. The ability to speak against the government, but not let the power get to our heads. A man is uneducated on the actual definition of our First Amendment, and thought freedom of speech means he can say ANYTHING and not have any penalties. He starts using hate speech, getting in trouble with the law. Instead, he can think before speaking and get a proper knowledge before acting out.

Freedom of speech to me means we should have the respect, responsibility, and right attitude when handling politics or government, remembering we weren't the ones who fought and died for it. If i have nothing positive to say i keep it to myself. We have the power, it's your decision whether to use it or abuse it.