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Right. Now, all of you are going to listen to what I have to say and I
want none of your opinions.
Imagine if your teachers told you this every morning. How would
you feel? Good morning Year 8 and teachers; today I’ll be talking
about freedom of speech. First, I’ll start off by talking about what
freedom of speech is, then I’ll share some stories, we’ll discuss how
we are constantly being influenced in Australia, and finally I’ll show
you all how you can use this freedom of speech.
So first of all, what is freedom of speech? Freedom of speech is the
right to express your own ideas and opinions without anyone
interfering or punishing you for it. There is a difference between
freedom of speech and just being plain rude of course.
Lets move onto those stories now. I’m going to take you all back
in time and introduce you to a man named Socrates. Socrates was a
very interesting man indeed. He would always ask question when
someone brought forward their idea. He would always ask, how did
you come up with that? When did you think of this? Does this
makes sense with that? And because he asked such questions, the
people of Athens sent him to jail. They told him either to kill himself
or leave Athens. Socrates chose to kill himself because without that
freedom of speech, he felt there was no point in living.
Now, lets fast-forward the clock to the present day. I’m sure all of
you are aware of the sports brand
NIKE
. Well, as popular and trendy
as their merchandise may be, the story behind how their products
are made is not so awesome. Children in Pakistan and a few other
countries are forced day and night to make all these products in
terrible conditions – just for us to use. The magazine
LIFE
were
brave enough to use their freedom of speech to say that what
NIKE
was doing was not right, but in fact child labour and should not be
tolerated just because
NIKE
is a big company. If it wasn’t for the
magazine
LIFE
, those children would still be working tirelessly today.
So, those were some stories from around the world. And here is
my personal story. In Vietnam, there was a dictatorship, meaning
the schooling wasn’t great nor was the housing. My grandparents
had strong beliefs against the dictatorship so they decided to move
to Australia. They used their freedom of speech to stay true to their
beliefs. If they hadn’t done so then I wouldn’t be alive, let alone
talking to you all right now.
So you think you have freedom of speech in Australia? Think
Freedom Of
Speech
Mira Menyen
Orator of the Year
Winner
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