Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn: Advocate for Freedom of Speech | Leo & Layla | PragerU Kids

[Music] hey layla have you heard what happened to dad not just heard i'm watching it happen online you're always whining about not having a phone but you're lucky not to have one right now you probably shouldn't look at social media yeah mom told me to stay off for a while i should people are saying really mean crazy things about dad and trying to get the business boycotted what's boycotted it means that the people who don't like what dad said at the school board meeting are trying to close his business down what i know people are being so mean there's even a petition to get all his ads taken down from facebook and google without any customers dad won't make any money and without any money we won't be able to go on the ski trip leila i've never seen snow we can't miss that trip dad needs to apologize leo the ski trip is not that important i'm proud of dad for standing up for what he believes in i don't understand why people are so mad me neither he just said he thought parents should know what teachers teach us even if he's wrong shouldn't he have the right to say his opinion i can't believe the video went viral well dad was pretty upset but he has a right to freedom of speech yeah last time i got in trouble i told mrs johnson that america is a free country and that got me in more trouble i don't understand free speech leo it's very different when you're a kid in school dad is an adult i'm confused i need to take my mind off this let's go learn about freedom of speech i have a feeling we're gonna need to become experts sounds good to me maybe we can help dad no one on earth is any other way left but upward hello sir we're from the future we're americans and in our time there are lots of arguments about having the right of free speech our dad spoke at a meeting and made a lot of people mad and now they're trying to punish him but he didn't do anything wrong he just said what he believes in do you have time to help us understand the right of free speech perhaps but i don't know i don't know you maybe you are secret communist kids sent from communist future to trick me into talking about freedom so you can squash that's my sister laila i'm leo no freedom squash no squash we love freedom and just want to help our dad and try to understand what's going on okay okay i will help you i am alexander sosinicin is it okay if we call you mr s certainly russian names like mine can be very difficult for westerners the speech i just gave was a far into your great country for what will happen if you do not protect free society it sounds like not enough people listen to me it's not too late teach us about free speech and we can spread the word to our friends i am really popular i have lots of friends oh get over yourself but it is true she has a ton of friends why are you an expert on freedom of speech let me tell you my story in 1918 i was born in russia [Music] russia russia [Music] um who was that that is ghost of stalin stalin was dictator of soviet union i am author and my books have destroyed the way people remember him so his ghost tries to hunt me but as you can see he is very wimpy huh communist ghosts in 1978 well okay my childhood was lived under new communist soviet rulers who took control of russia after revolution my family farm was taken by communists and my christian faith was made illegal but despite this i love my homeland and served during world war ii were you a soldier i was commander for red army and was honored several times for being hero in combat against invading nazis but as war was winding down i began having questions and criticisms of communism and specifically of stalin who was dictator that's not okay under communism right saying anything bad about the dictator is against the law do everything i say stalin held all power and authority and since i questioned his leadership in letters and conversations i was punished and sent to gulag what's the gulag gulags were work prisons in the worst places imaginable prisoners lived with insects parasites and rats and were forced to work all day every day many prisoners were worked to death and some starved and froze from cold by grace of god i survived and after stolen died i was freed let me get this straight you got all that horrible punishment just because you said a couple bad things about your government correct once released i found job as teacher and spent nights writing books about life about freedom and about horrors of gulag my books have made me very famous but they made the communists very angry i was not put back in gulag but it was kicked out of the country and cannot go back thank goodness we have freedom of speech in america people in our time complain about our leaders all the time but they aren't punished i don't know laila nobody's getting thrown in a gulag but people are getting punished just for their opinions and what they say look at dad what has happened to father he spoke at a school board meeting and questioned the education leadership he doesn't like what's going on and he's now getting attacked for speaking up sounds familiar all he said was that schools and parents should agree on what gets taught to us kids and now people who didn't like what he said are saying bad things about him trying to hurt his business and punish him and his family ah i feared this it was public meeting right yes a public meeting about our schools and people recorded what he said and now it's all over the news some people really like what he said but it seems like more don't and they're really loud sneaking in through school government controls everything even your children hey that's kind of what dad was saying during his speech he got really mad and said schools weren't respecting parents rights then his microphone was turned off and he couldn't finish talking father is very brave he is warrior for freedom why do you think they wouldn't let him speak let's let ghost answer your education leaders are trying to silence father for same reason stolen throw me in gulag ghost yes why did you really throw me in gulag to be punished because i was afraid of losing control of my power you were telling the truth and i couldn't defend my bad leadership and bad ideas so i had to shut you up it's what us communists do control the language control the people [Music] i think i understand people who don't like freedom of speech are afraid because they don't want to defend their opinions they're scared of hearing things they don't like to hear precisely if freedom means anything it means be able to say things others don't want to hear i have a question mr s what about freedom of speech for kids at school last time i got in trouble in class i told my teacher that i shouldn't be in trouble because we live in a free country she got really mad and i got in even more trouble then my parents took her side leo it is very important for americans to love and cherish your freedom because in world it is not common to be free but it is also important to understand freedom does not mean that you are free from responsibility when you are student you have a responsibility to respect your teacher and not be rude so it's not okay to joke around in school jokes are wonderful when i was a teacher my favorite students told good jokes but respecting freedom of speech requires you understand proper time and place sometimes that's hard it can be very difficult life is very complicated and tricky most situations are not simple that is why so important to have conversations where different opinions can be heard no conversation and no jokes are off this is why bad leaders are always on attack of free speech they make no room for differences or middle ground compromise you are on their side completely or you are their enemy what if dad loses his business american hero benjamin franklin once said those who choose comfort over freedom will have neither your father must fight everything depends on freedom we met mr franklin he's great and that makes sense without freedom a business doesn't matter yeah dad needs to keep speaking up and fighting after talking to you mr s i'm really proud of dad very good leo now back to your time to help him and don't forget to be funny but respectful student okay i will bye mr solzhenitsyn bye mr s thanks if you are interested in time traveling again please subscribe to prageru.com kids and watch more of our adventures