Freedom of Speech: the Liberty and the Limitations

        In light of recent events such as Charlie Hebdo and protests that have been going on all over the world, a fierce debate about freedom of speech has sparked. Some feel that there should be limitations and boundaries yet others feel that people should have the liberty to say what they want however both opinions are justified with worthy reasons.

        People have always had varied views on what is deemed "offensive" and it can be strenuous having to constantly watch your tongue. Thinking before we act and simply considering consequences before we speak may get us so far but after that we can all be guilty of being ignorant or unaware of how what we can say can affect others. Which is why we must not condemn people for a comment but educate them. Instead of shaming, guilt tripping and harming them, explaining and making them aware of why you're offended will most likely be much more beneficial and helpful in the long term. We do it with children by teaching them the basics of how to be kind and not cruel but when do we ditch the rules and adopt the freedom? Should there be an age limit on freedom of speech and, if so, when? If we do choose to educate others however and yet they still continue to insult us with the only purpose being to mock/harass us then there is another problem to address. I believe that we do have the right to offend, but we also have the right to defend ourselves and call people out on simply mean and hateful comments. It can then turn to bullying and verbal abuse, can these really be condoned? In an abusive relationship can we actually excuse verbal abuse with freedom of speech? 

         It can be worse however when-in some places in the world- people do experience brutal punishments for highlighting a flaw in a corrupt system and "insulting" authorities. Which is why I feel that the purpose of freedom of speech is to speak out against corruption and improve the world we live in. The freedom of speech concept that we have in the western world is the ideology that we can freely speak out without restraint from the government. I feel that freedom of speech is a right that we have to criticise present systems and voice how we can better them-not an excuse to belittle others. I believe that freedom of speech should encourage discussion and give us a voice- it should not allow us to silence and humiliate others.
Fozz.