During Ken Paulson's fascinating talk this morning on the First Amendment, I kept thinking about a book I recently read entitled "Give Me Liberty" by Naomi Wolf. Ms. Wolf traces the apathy of the American public who seem to be more than willing to abnegate their basic rights for an "I don't care" attitude. She traces many instances in which the public simply shrugs off the right to petition, redress the government, assemble to protest, etc. It almost seems as if to exercise these basic rights is tantamount to siding with terrorists. The fact that most Americans don't know their First Amendment rights and to risk knowing them -- let alone practice them -- is somehow anti-American is a disturbing trend this book seems to convey. I'm not sure how this sentiment evolved. I guess it started with a reaction to the Hippie movement -- many of my students have lumped hippies in the same category as people protesting or questioning government policies and equated them to terrorists -- that has increased to bigger porportions since 9/11.
Mr. Paulson's talk certainly reaffirmed the need to educate our young people on the priceless liberties the Bill of Rights guarantee us and to take action when they feel it is necessary. It clearly does not to be an extreme reaction as the hippie movement -- at least I hope not -- but it should happen and needs to happen. I don't think memorizing the Bill of Rights is the answer. I think the problem runs deeper, the apathy, that we as educators need to teach our youth to fight. That is the spark we need to ignite, and it starts with the Bill of Rights.
John Bradford
Creekview High School
Canton, GA
I think the the campaign that Ken Paulson shared with us could be really helpful igniting the students! We can make the First Amendment cool again! One student at a time. i plan on having a First Amendment Day at my school in the fall. We have been discussing having a journalism fair and this would fit in great with that. Don't forget to check out the campaign's home page at: http://1forall.us/
ReplyDeleteThe book sounds really interesting too! I'll add it to my must read list.