A new study by the Knight Foundation and Ipsos shows a decline in students’ views concerning the state of free speech on college campuses.

The study, released recently, reveals several key findings, including that 70 percent of students „believe that speech can be as damaging as physical violence,” as two in three students report „self-censoring” on some topics during classroom discussions, the Zero Hedge news portal highlights.

Republican students self-censor more, with 49 percent self-censoring on three or more topics versus 38 percent of Democrats and 40 percent of independents.

Republicans also tend to be more likely to report self-censoring on gender or LGBTQ issues (55%), racial issues (44%), and diversity, equity and inclusion issues (33%) than Democrats (32%, 30%, 15%) or independents (41%, 37%, 26%),

the results reveal.

43 percent of the students who participated in the poll feel that freedom of speech is very secure or secure today — that’s a significant drop from 73 percent of students who felt the same in 2016.

Only about half of students (54%) believe colleges should „allow students to be exposed to all types of speech even if they may find it offensive or biased” — that percentage has also decreased significantly from 78 percent in 2016.

60 percent of college students strongly or somewhat agree with the statement, that „the climate at my school or on my campus prevents some people from saying things they believe, because others might find it offensive.”

Students want to participate in healthy debates, but only 32 percent say their college has programs specifically designed to promote constructive conversations among those who disagree.