8 Values of Expression

The 8 Values of Expression are crucial for a functioning democracy because they enable the free exchange of ideas, promote informed citizenship, and foster accountability. After reading brief descriptions on all 8, one really stuck out to me, and that is to Promote Tolerance. 

To promote tolerance is to actively encourage/support the acceptance and respect of differences in beliefs, cultures, ways of life, etc. to foster an understanding and peaceful coexistence in the world. I love to talk about this topic because I feel like no one can talk about being accepting of other differences enough. 

It is said that "freedom of speech teaches us to become more tolerant in other aspects of life." The reason I believe this to be true is because when people have the opportunity to speak out about their opinions on life or culture, they might reach someone who either doesn't know anything about it or someone who has a different opinion then them. 

It's so important to be tolerant in todays society because not everything you see on the internet is the truth any more due to the advance technology of AI. People can create any source of fake news and people will run with it just because they believed on source, which is why it is so important to look into things more then just once that way you can see different view points and can form, you're own opinion.

To be tolerant is showing willingness to allow the existence of opinions or behavior that one does not necessarily agree with. I honestly never knew what it meant to tolerant until I read into promoting tolerance, because people will call it being inclusive and that you should accept people for who they are no matter what differences you have. 

One place where I believe we as a country need to have more promoting tolerance is in the elections. A lot of people grow up with the same views as their parents just because that's all they grew up knowing instead of looking into it and forming their own opinions. How are we supposed to exceed as a society if everyone just makes up their opinions without even knowing what they are talking about?

The place where tolerance should be taught is in grade school because this is when children are most open and haven't formed too many opinions on things, so they are more accepting to many different ideas and cultures. If we taught our child how to be tolerant at a young age, then by the time they are adults they would be more accepting of different ideas and be more willing to look into things before forming their final opinion. 

I cannot express the importance of being tolerant enough because in today's society there are so many different ways to look at things such as, culture, ways of life, and beliefs, and you aren't always going to work with or even be around people with the same exact views as you. That is why it is so important to be accepting of people, their opinions, and hearing their side of the story out.