By now I'm sure many of you heard or read about that article where H.S. students didn't understand or know what the First Amendment is or does.
Here's The Article
Now before some of you go on giant rants about the U.S. government and what not...STOP...make another thread about that. That's not the focus here. This is about HIGH SCHOOL.
I wasen't all that shocked about the results because the school I went to had a U.S. History teacher who basicly said "You have no rights until you're 18". He was the most cliche stereotype of a white conservative teacher in terms of LOOKS...but he was quite a good teacher all in all. He really put effort into making you understand things. During the French Revolution section he brought in an 8 foot tall guillotine and we got a chance to divide in groups and execute fellow students....we had to give reasons...I was killed for being quiet and unfriendly...needless to say that spawned a rather nasty backlash but that's another issue entirely.
However that was pretty much the last time I ran into a teacher who discussed or raised the issue of what rights we had in this country. Did your H.S. teachers discuss and raise them with you? Did you understand them?
One thing that really bugged me was the prison like atmosphere so many High Schools started to have in the mid 90's and on. It can feel as though what rights you do have are really not put to use in H.S. so can you really blame students for not understanding the first amendment when it's not practiced in schools? Between censorship, dress codes, school rules and regulations, it can feel like you are under some opressive regime instead of a school administration. At least that's how my school felt.
How about yours? Did it feel like they tried to teach you about your rights or simply took them away and gave you lip service about them?
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