Hate speech or rather simply hate, hurts everyone that is involved with the hatred. Although hate speech is painful, people still continue to use it to harm others. The Constitution gives Americans the right to free speech, however, does the First Amendment cover hate speech?

To begin with, hate speech is any speech that attacks a person or group on the basis of attributes. These can be anything based upon their sex, race, ethnicity, gender, religion or anything else that defines who they are.

Recently, there was an incident online where a man named Alexander Jones who is a radio host and conspiracy theorist who talks about “fake news” that works in Austin, Texas. His podcast Infowars was removed from Facebook, YouTube and now Twitter because of the hateful words and incorrect facts that he spoke.

“I feel like people who have influence in general need to be careful. One word and their following could lash out at a single person and the person doesn’t deserve that. No matter what they did they don’t need people saying horrible things to them. They need to learn from their mistakes in a way that doesn’t destroy them in the process,” homeschooled junior Faith Demas said.

Hate speech has become common in Hollywood and books creating a dramatic storyline. It is often seen online that one person is attacking a group of people because they do not like something about them.

“I have heard many things on either the news or movies. You hear it [hate speech] almost everywhere. Whether it is about sexuality, religion, race and so many more,” sophomore Alexandra Mizzelle said.

Hate speech is often used when bullying or trying to cause harm to others. Hateful words and actions make the world a darker place.

“I honestly don’t understand people that use hate speech. It doesn’t make sense to me. There is no good reason to it in my eyes. When I see it happening I get very upset. I’m usually calm but I can’t help getting mad at those who try to hurt others,” Demas said.

Take a moment to think about when young children play together — they are kind to one another and just want to enjoy themselves. What if everyone took a moment to be kind to each other like young children do with playmates?

From the early 1970s to the early 2000s, the popular PBS TV show Mr. Rogers Neighborhood taught lessons such as kindness, sharing and many other lessons for preschool-aged children yet it taught children how to accept others and how to respectfully speak about others.

“It makes me very upset and angry that people are not accepting what others choose to do with their lives. I wish that could change but there will always be that one person who will not accept something different,” Mizzelle said.

What happened to being generous? When did it become acceptable to use hateful words, actions or act rudely towards other members of the same species?

There might not be a way to figure out the answer to those questions, but it does not hurt to try to avoid looking at someone and directly saying hurtful words or performing a rude action.

“When I see it being done I always step in. I stand up for people. Usually that turns the hate towards me but I don’t care. As long as I can save someone else from getting hurt and show them they are worth something I’m happy,” Demas shared.