Imagine yourself in a world where you can't say what you wanted or express how you feel. The everyday thoughts that are spoken out loud like “Man, this class is stupid” could no longer be anything but thoughts. Many people in other countries have rules and regulations about what they can and cannot say. The First Amendment of the United States Constitution gives Americans the right to free speech (Lakoff 260). Learning to speak is something our parents praise us for when we are little. Because, after all the waiting they endured, parents would let strangers decide what their children could or could not say. Censorship of language and speech is becoming too severe. While we have the right to free speech, there are some restrictions such as “fighting words” that are not permitted under the First Amendment. The essay “There's No Such Thing as Free Speech, and It's a Good Thing” by Stanley Fish, contains information on the Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire court case. The court held in Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire that “some forms of speech are not really speech because their purpose is to incite violence or because they are 'fighting words,' words that might provoke the average person to retaliate, and thus cause a breach of the peace” (Fish 307) Chaplinsky was a Jehovah's Witness who got into a verbal argument with the town sheriff. Chaplinsky was arrested and found guilty for calling the town sheriff a “damn racketeer” and a “damn fascist” (Lakoff 264). In the case Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire, the court's assumption was: "that some words are so bad that upon hearing them, an ordinary person must strike (reflexively, as, when the doctor taps you on the knee with a hammer, you must throw...... into middle of paper......the things of life and one of that is understanding when their thoughts and opinions are welcome and when they are not. These same people also know that they have the right to say what they want, they should just know that they have enough respect for the people they are talking to. Everyone has rights and should be able to keep them. Works Cited Fish, Stanley “There is no such thing as freedom to word, and it's a good thing too" Exploring Language of Oklahoma ed. New York: Pearson Custom, 2009. Print.Kors, Alan “The Betrayal of Freedom on American Campuses” Exploring Language. University of Oklahoma ed. New York : Pearson Custom, 2009. 294-300. Print.Lakoff, Robin. “Hate speech” Exploring language. University of Oklahoma ed. New York: Pearson Custom, 2009. 259-66. Press.