5/11/2012
porterville

salinna
smith/mhs
i thing that honking your horn can be a little bit of both. Though since people are on the streets with signs they honk to signify there beliefs. Also it can just be annoying. to those drivers with no patience at all. Why cant they just wait. Since in the end they crash into someone else. Thus, it would be considered both.

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3/30/2012
Belleville New York

Stephennie
Miss Colby- Belleville Henderson
To me, I think that honking your horn can be considered both. Some people may think that it is annoying, and some may think that it is noted as plain and simple as a freedom of speech. If you see someone that you know walking then I think it is okay to beep, wave and say "hey" but if you see an animal or anything else in the road then I personally don't think that it is necassary to beep at them.

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12/16/2011
Rudyard, MT

Shelby L.
Mrs. Campbell
Honking you horn is a freedom that we have. But like all the other rights that we have or had if they are abused then something has to be done to fix it. Azael Brodhead took his rights to far and a caused a huge scene that effected other people. Once you have caused a problem for other people in a public area you have lost some of your rights because you are interfering with others rights. If you want to honk your horn that is fine but don’t go as far as causing others to be irritated.

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10/31/2011
Watertown/Ma

Mike Busconi
Rimas/Watertown High School
Honking your horn is both freedom of expression and annoying because the person in the car in front of you is at a traffic light and its green but there not paying attention or there sleeping at the wheel then you should be able to beep because there sitting there wasting your time and holding up traffic and its a hassle for you. If a driver makes a maneuver that almost causes an accident then they should get beeped at because they could have hurt other drivers/pedestrians and damaged other cars. It gets annoying when people just beep because they have the need to.

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10/28/2011
Watertown/Ma

Samantha
Rimas/Watertown High School
I believe that honking your horn is a freedom of expression. I believe this because of an experience that happened to me. If your going down a street and a car doesn't stop at the sign and just takes it turn, you should be able to honk to your horn and make them acknowledge what they did is wrong. When people are driving and they don't see a cop they think they can get away with just about anything, by honking your horn maybe they will realize that there are other people watching them. Though, when you go and pick someone up from a house honking your horn till they come out is just plain annoying. By looking at these to examples we can see how the two differentiate.

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10/26/2011
Wartertown, MA

Raheel
Rimas/ Watertown High School
I THINK IT'S FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND ITS ANNOYING. BUT THERE'S A RIGHT TIME TO HONK YOUR HORN. FOR EXAMPLE IF SOMEONE IS IN FRONT OF YOU AND NOT PAY ATTENTION TO THE TRAFFIC LIGHTS AND IT'S GREEN AND THEY HAVEN'T MOVED YET, YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO HONK YOUR HORN TO LET THEM KNOW THEY SHOULD PROCEED AND NOT HOLD UP TRAFFIC. AND THEN THERE'S PEOPLE WHO ANNOY OTHER PEOPLE AND JUST LAY ON THE HORN FOR THE HELL OF IT.

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10/19/2011
Sidney Montana

Tanner Roth
Miss Fontana
Honking is redicuously obnoxious. I find it so annoying and i beleive it is freedom of speech! I mean i understand honking is neccessary when you have to honk to avoid a wreck, but to just do it is stupid.

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10/19/2011
Sidney, MT

Tegan
Ms. Fontana
I think its annoying because what are they chances that someone is really going to speed up of you hunk your horn... I know i would slow down. But for accidents they can be useful. You might see someone about to make a big mistake and get there attention of it by honking your horn at them.

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10/19/2011
Sidney, Montana

Justina
Mr. Faulhaber
It is a freedom of speech, but what Brodhead did every morning is just stupid, the sound of someone honking their horn is annoying. On the other hand they are a useful thing because you can get someones attention before an accident is caused.

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10/19/2011
Sidney High School

Shane
Mr. Faulhaber / Sidney High School
Honking your horn is straight up annoying. Especially when you are doing it to get your friends' attention, it is pretty unnecessary to be honest.

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10/14/2011
Sidney, Montana

Brett
Mr. Faulhaber
it is freedom of speech but that doesnt mean you can just go around honking your horn all you want because it is very frustrating to here that.

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10/7/2011
Sidney Montana

BoBo
Mr. Faulhaber
Yes it is a freedom of speech but some people just honk their horn to be plain annoying.

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10/7/2011
Sidney, MT

Cody
Ms. Fontana
yes it is a freedom of speech but people should not abuse that right what so ever.

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10/7/2011
Sidney Mt

Jaycee
Mr. Faulhaber Sidney High School
I think that honking your horn is freedom is speech. If people own something with a horn in it, they should get to honk it whenever they would like. Its their property. Many people use their horns for safety reasons. They use their horns to protect themselves and others. I would honk my horn if something i didnt like was going on. It's freedom of speech! People use their horns for many reasons. People honk their horns to show appreciation, support, luck, and excitment. People in my town honk their horns to show luck for althetes in sports and games. Horns are used to get points across and i dont think that Mr. Brodhead should of got penalized for his actions. He was just using his resources and voicing his opionion through his own property.

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10/7/2011
Sidney, MT

Karley
Mr. Faulhaber
I believe that it is a freedom of speech. It is a way to show how you feel or what is going on. If I'm mad at someone for cutting me off I'm going to honk my horn. I would also honk my horn if someone was about to hit me or get into a wreck. Brodhead's protest should have been protected by his right to freedom of speech because that is exactly what it was, him telling people what he thought. He wasn't effecting any one physicaly and never tresspassed on anyone's property.

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10/7/2011
Sidney, MT

Andrew
Mr. Faulhaber
I believe honking is freedom of speech, but also it could cause some problems with wrecks. Brodhead's protest should have been protected by his to freedom of speech.

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10/7/2011
Sidney MT

Katey
Ms. Fontana
I think it's a right, and in a way it can be annoying if your just going down the street honking your horn but it's also a means of gettings someones attention so that you don't get in a wreck of worse. Otherwise it shouldn't be used.

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10/7/2011
mt

nate
Ms. Fontana
Yes it is freedom of speech

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10/7/2011
sidney montana

Steffan (the man) anderson
miss fontana
Honking should ONLY be for its original purpose. for safety!! If someone honks for any other reason, it will confuse those who are driving.

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9/30/2011
Irving, TX

Joel S.
Bradley/Nimitz
Honking is important for gaining one’s attention to prevent traffic accidents or relay messages to people. But excessive honking to protest something, such as a government policy or an official’s opinion could possibly be disruptive to the surrounding community and a rude and offensive way of getting a point across. Azael Brodhead’s course of action was inflammatory, and disrupt a neighborhood with superfluous noise and lewd gestures. Despite our freedom of speech, we need to be considerate of others and not hinder their daily lives with our opinions.

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9/27/2011
Irving/Texas

Jennifer N.
Bradley/Nimitz
There are certain times when it's acceptable to honk your car horn--in Brodhead's case it was just plain wrong. Although everyone is entitled to freedom of speech, Brodhead's way of expressed this "freedom of speech" was just annoying and disruptive to others. Not to mention he was on residential streets. Brodhead has the right to protest, but the way he went about it caused problems for others as well. What may have started out as protest quickly just turned into plain harassment.

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9/26/2011
Irving, TX

Ashley Bo
Bradley/Nimitz
Honking horns is fine if you are doing it for acceptable reasons. If you are doing it for other insulting reasons like Scott Walker did is not fine. What Scott Walker was in a rude and offensive way. It was offensive since he repeatedly honk the horn several times while sticking out his middle finger. That is why he got fined. He should not be protected for freedom of speech. Honking horns are usually used for safety ,to gain support, and a way to speak up. It is highly disruptive if you are using it in a way like Scott Walker. Just do not get out of hands with it.

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9/26/2011
Irving/TX

Cynthia G
Bradley/Nimitz
Honking your car horn could be both freedom of speech and annoying, it just depends on how you use it. In Azael Brodhead's situation, he was using it to be disrespectful and to protest his “rights”. Sometimes people do have to honk their horns to avoid an accident or get another drivers attention, but to use your horn in a distasteful manner should be unacceptable. I do understand that Bordhead was using his rights and was stating his point, but there is a limit and when it becomes a distraction to others, someone should put a stop to it. I don't think that Brodhead's protest should have been protected by his freedom of speech, because of his harassment to others. His actions were uncalled for, he should have found a better way of approaching his problem. Also, there is a big difference between honking your horn to support high schoolers to driving around honking your horn protesting and waving your middle finger around.

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9/26/2011
Irving/Texas

Carmen
Bradley/Nimitz
Honking a horn is traffic safety. Nothing Brodhead did is under the constitution. In my opinion they should have gotten him for disturbing the peace, or harassment. The horn on the car was meant for safety reasons. For example, if someone is about to back into you and they don't see you, that is a necessary use of the horn, not making someone so annoyed until they look out their window so you can flip them off. To me, a person like that, should be frowned upon. That is someone who obviously is not mature. So I would have them arrested too.

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9/26/2011
Irving/TX

Jesse G.
Bradley/Nimitz
I believe that honking your horn is and should not be protected by the first amendment. The purpose that the invention of the car horn was made for was to honk to notifying cars and beings around you during traffic or other occasions about something. The first amendment does not mention anything about any artificial noises being protected like a speech or writing would be. If honking would be protected under the first amendment, it would give people the right to if they wanted to cause disturbances with their honking. This then would be called as public disturbances which is against the law and not to mention very irritating!

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9/26/2011
Irving/Tx

Jennifer J.
Bradley/Nimitz
Normally, I would say honking your car horn is completely acceptable to gain support for your cause. But in this case, Scott Walker was doing it simply to be disruptive. Not to mention, for student car washes, honking your horn is normally on public road -- not a residential street. Walker not on was disrupting others who lived on that street, but also he was being purposely offensive. He wasn't trying to gain any support by waving his middle finger and blaring his horn; he was trying to insult. THAT's why he got the citation. So, in this case, no, honking your horn IS disruptive. But in another case, (i.e. "Honk for Jesus" or some other campaign to GAIN support) honking is acceptable.

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9/25/2011
Irving/TX

Michael P.
Bradley/Nimitz
What that man did was definitely the wrong way to use a horn. I believe horns were given on cars for 100% safety reasons. So in saying that, in any and all circumstances you can imagine that horns are used for besides the safety purpose, are in fact an expression of some sort. But of course there comes a time when expression can have negative intentions such as this case. Those negative intentions and the manor they are used in, can be considered in my opinion, “disturbing the peace”. This case particularly violated some privacy for the governor. I cant imagine the embarrassment and confusion the governor went through as an estranged man insulted him outside of his personal home. So from my standpoint, there is nothing that can protect this man from his actions. Even if he decides to say it was a “freedom of speech” situation. Stated clearly in the constitution, all citizens have the right to PEACEFUL protest, and this was most definitely not a peaceful protest.

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9/25/2011
Irving/TX

Sherin
Bradley/Nimitz
The First Amendment defends a citizen's right to expression, but it should not be used to harm people. Car horns are used to warn a driver that he is either blocking a path, or doing something wrong. It even warns a driver of the danger that lies ahead of him. Suppose, a person in the car ahead of you isn't moving when the traffic light is green, the person in the back car has every right to honk at the car in front of his own car, asking the driver to make a move. Brodhead did the right thing by protesting against Governor Walker. But visiting the Governor's house everyday and honking the car is just way too rude. And because it is a residential area, it causes the residents to become very annoyed. Therefore, Mr. Brodhead cannot use the First Amendment to protect him, when he has caused disturbance to other people.

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9/24/2011
Irving/State

Jerin
Bradly/Nimitz
Honking a car horn is a freedom of speech. Someone who cannot get to speak in a press conference or go to a city council to voice his concerns and demands can very well use a car horn to draw people's attention to their cause. Forbidding someone from using his car horn is wrong. Car horns are used to warn people or other cars on the road to be alert. If people are not allowed to use car horns, then why do we even have horns fixed in our cars in the first place. Almost every other country in the world do not say anything against using car horns. Car horns are used to warn people that they are either blocking others paths or doing something wrong. There is absolutely no offense in that. It's not like you can give a call to someone blocking the road or doing something dangerous to move away from the road. The best and the only way is to use a car horn. In my opinion, honking is a freedom of speech and in emergencies is the right thing to use.

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9/24/2011
Irving/TX

Mariah B.
Bradley/Nimitz
Honestly, in my few months of driving as a teenager, I haven't honked the horn more than three times, and certainly not with as much rigor and purpose as Azael Brodhead. Honking is sometimes necessary to get the attention of wayward drivers, but I never thought of it as a way to protest a governor. Brodhead's right to petition is covered in the first amendment as freedom of speech, so technically Brodhead could exercise it. The problem was that there was a fine line established between petitioning and harassment, for Brodhead continued this practice for quite a while, until April. Although the founding fathers did want the people to have the freedom of speech, I do not know if it would have been to the extremes of this amount of harassment and utter disruption of the peace. I'm not arguing that Brodhead didn't have the right to protest to his heart's content, but I think that the way he went about it, he should at least expect some ramifications for all of the ruckus he caused in the neighborhood.

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9/23/2011
Irving/TX

Angelica R
Bradley/Nimitz
I understand that Brodhead has the right of freedom of speech, but that does not mean he has to be a disturbance to others. Honking his horn over and over again is pushing it, and is uncalled for. The manner that he expressed his "freedom of speech" in was terrible and is bending the First Amendment a long ways.

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9/23/2011
Pheonixville/PA

Zachary
Lynch/Renaissance Academy
I feel that honking a horn is not technically speech in the first place so how could he even be talking about being protected. After all it wasnt him making the noise it was his car. I meen i can understand the whole desire to express yourself but there is a limit to were its just not going to do anything and this man has apparently found it. On a side note how is it that this man was fined for honking a horn and note tresspasing on private property? Had the governer simple used that in court he probably could have gotten a restraining order to keep him away, and if he kept at his cause then Walker could have just gotten him arrested for that and it wouldnt have even been a matter of freedom of protest or speech.

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9/23/2011
Phoenixville/Pa

Chris
Mrs. Lynch/Renaissance Academy
I do believe honking your car horn is a freedom of speech. Honking your car horn is just like cheering or booing at a sports game. If you are not allowed to honk your car horn to show what you think of someone's actions than you should not be allowed to cheer for a sports team or even the president.

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9/23/2011
Phoenixville/Pa

Chris
Mrs. Lynch/Renaissance Academy
I do believe honking your car horn is a freedom of speech. Honking your car horn is just like cheering or booing at a sports game. If you are not allowed to honk your car horn to show what you think of someone's actions than you should not be allowed to cheer for a sports team or even the president.

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9/23/2011
phoenixville, PA

Matt
Mrs. Lynch
I think that Azael was in the wrong by going to the governers house every morning and honking his horn while waving the middle finger. Your freedom of speech is not completely free. There is a fine line that you often cross when you are passionate about a subject and want to speak out about it. While honking your horn on the road can be an accident saver. Since the horn is so loud, everyone immediately knows where you are and that you are there. For instance, when you are driving through a parking lot and someone is backing out they may not see you, when you honk your horn the person that is backing out immediately looks for the noise and stops the car. But when people honk their horn out of anger at another motorist, they are using freee speech, but not in the right way.

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9/22/2011
Irving/TX

Derek
Bradley/Nimitz
Due to the nature of car horns (they’re loud) and the nature of night-time (that’s when people sleep), I find it hard to believe that Azael Brodhead could expect to cause such a ruckus and not get cited for noise violations. However, under certain circumstances, I do believe horn honking can be considered free expression, and therefore protected by the Bill of Rights. Though, there is a time and place for everything. If protest is considered political ammunition, then all of Governor Scott Walker’s neighbors can be considered casualties of political war; they're all innocent bystanders to a conflict that probably didn’t even concern them. Brodhead should have been more considerate, and chosen to conduct his protest at a more suitable time and place.

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9/22/2011
Irving/TX

Sara
Bradley/Nimitz
I think there is a difference in doing it an orderly fashion and doing it constantly everyday just to annoy the person. He was disrupting the peace so I think being finned for that was the correct action. It's not like he was honking his horn for a good cause or to get support. I don't necessarily think honking your horn is freedom of speech especially for an everyday occurrence. He has a right to protest, but not making a ruckus and disturbing everyone around.

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9/22/2011
Irving/Tx

Gustavo Argueta
Bradley/ Nimitz
Honking your horn is plain and simple annoying. However, it is a way of expressing yourself and your thoughts. In America you have the freedom of speech given by the first amendment. And if honking your horn is your way of expressing your freedom of speech then keep doing it.

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9/22/2011
Irving/TX

Jose R.
Bradley/Nimitz
Freedom of speech can be expressed by honking. Its is sometimes a necessary thing to do when your driving and the driver in-front of you is driving slow or has no idea where he is going. They are also times when people honk just to cause attention or as a way of excitement. The point is that honking is a form of speech but that doesn't mean it is always ethical. In my view, there is a limit to which someone should honk, not just to do it randomly while driving along because that's simply annoying. Brodhead's protest against Gov. Walker is an example of wrong ethical behavior. Broadhead knew it wasn't right to express himself that way but he also knew he was protected. Taking advantage of the First Amendment that way is wrong. He got what he deserved in the end.

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9/22/2011
Irving/Texas

Shelby
Bradley/Nimitz
Honking a horn is just plain annoying to be, seriously it is uncalled for a person to sit in front of someones house for 15 minutes screaming, waking the middles finger, and honking their horn. Its just plain rude. Brodhead got what he deserved because their is a time when freedom of speech reaches its limits. People can say what they want, but what he did i would consider harassment.

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9/22/2011
Irving/TX

Vanessa B.
Bradley/Nimitz
People have the freedom of speech. The First Amendment says we have the freedom of speech. Honking your horn is just another way to speak up. Honking your horn is freedom of expression. People are allowed to do it. However, do not get out of hand and go crazy with your horn. Waving your middle finger is not very polite. There are multiple ways to being heard without being an animal.

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9/21/2011
Irving/Texas

Joan
Bradley/Nimitz
The First Amendment guarantees a person's freedom of speech. Honking one's horn is freedom of expression which is also considered freedom of speech. Yes, it might be annoying, but if someone has a say to express, he can then honk his horn. However, at the same time, I believe a honk should be honked only under certain circumstances. Car horns were made for a reason. They were not created to be played with. Brodhead was definitely using his freedom of speech when he used his car horn to protest against a governor's action, but he should not have used it to make a ruckus just outside Governor Scott Walker's house. He violated the governor's privacy and space. The First Amendment was not created to allow an individual to use his rights to cause harms to others, verbally in Brodhead's case. With that being said, Brodhead's protest should not be protected by his right to freedom of speech. A horn should be used only under reasonable situations. Also, honking a minimum of two times is enough.

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9/21/2011
Irving/Tx

Azaria
Bradley/Nimitz
In communicating with others, we often use more than one way to talk – and it isn't always with words. Honking your horn is a form of communication and expressing someone. You can honk your horn when your at a light, the light was previously red and has just turned green, and for some reason, the person in front of you isn't going. You can honk your horn at him to tell him to start moving. It is a nonverbal way of communicating to other people while on the road. You can also honk your horn at some one if they suddenly get in front of you and you have to hit the breaks hard or risk crashing into that person – even if it would make you feel better to teach them the lesson that they shouldn't do that, you really don't want to have to pay for the damage a crash may cause to your car. By honking your horn in this case, you are telling that person that you are annoyed at him or her for doing that. However, while honking your horn is a good thing on the road, people shouldn't be allowed to go into a neighborhood and honk your horn repeatedly. While the people in the neighboring houses can easily ignore the shouting of a single man, it is very hard to ignore a car honking over and over again. Not only is it rude to the person who is being honked at, it is also extremely rude to the people who are trying to live their lives in the immediate area. If Mr. Brodhead wants to protest what Governor Walker is doing, then he should make his complaints to Governor Walker alone, and not disrupt the lives of the people who happen to live around the Governor's home.

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9/21/2011
Irving/TX

Luz V.
Bradley/Nimitz
The First Amendment defends a citizen's right to free speech and demonstration, not the right to harass another. Mr. Brodhead has every right to disagree with the actions of Governor Walker and he has the right to demonstrate that disagreement, but the constant honking can easily be seen as harassment to Governor Walker and everyone else in the neighborhood who was bothered by the nightly racket. There are also noise regulations everywhere, Mr. Brodhead earned himself a citation because he violated the noise and parking regulations of the area, he broke the law and he can't use the Bill of Rights to get around it. Thus, honking can be an acceptable medium of demonstration as long as it is used in a respectable way which gets the point across without breaking set rules or harassing those in the immediate area.

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9/21/2011
candor/new york

dylan
eckerson/candorhigh school
what if they are warnining you that there is a green light that you can go

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9/20/2011
Irving/ Texas

Kirstin F.
Bradley/ Nimitz
I think honking your horn is annoying honestly. What Brodhead was doing was not exercising freedom of speech I consider it harassment. Not only was he disrupting Walker but he was also harming the others around in the neighborhood where walker lived whom he had nothing against When people honk their horn at me it actually makes me quite angry. I think a horn should be used to grab someones attention if there is danger ahead.

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9/19/2011
Irving/Texas

Marcus A.
Bradley/Nimitz High School
In this country, we are given the freedom to do anything. After all, the American Revolution focused on restoring the liberty that Great Britain had improperly taken away from the colonists. Though we have the ability to commit any and all acts, consequences aren’t simply swept under the rug. Honking a car horn once or twice in response to a careless driver is understandable. But parking in front of Governor Walker’s house, sticking your middle finger in the air, and honking incessantly for months constitutes an entirely different issue. Many people find a scapegoat in what is known as the freedom of speech. The Bill of Rights, which was intended to sustain individual liberties, is now used to justify immoral actions. Therefore, Brodhead’s protest should not be protected by his right to freedom of speech, because his intentions were designed to hurt another person – whether physically or verbally. There are always other options. We just need to be mature and find them.

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9/18/2011
Dallas

Lauren
Bradley
I think sometimes it is just plain annoying because some people might honk it too much at times. I get if you honk twice to get someones attention like to go or go faster, and maybe for cutting you off. But when they honk three, four , five times it is unnecessary.