Young Americans need Bill of Rights lesson
Photo by Brad Redford/Graphic by Jonda Pingetzer<br>Woody Taylor's 1983 image is superimposed with the current staff of the drive-thru that still bears his name. His wife Sharon Taylor is seated next to Sara Valdez, Jade Taylor and Halie Gonzalez on the bench in front of Woody's Drive-Thru, which he purchased in 1983. Standing behind him is Jody Taylor, Woody Taylor (named for his grandfather) and Ashlee Albert.
Watching the state of the union speech Wednesday night, I realized that this country is suffering from an identity crisis.
There is the America that our leaders and pundits see. The one we learned about in school. Beacon of freedom, world economy example-setter, or even the horribly outdated, yet still used, "leader of the free world."
Then, there is the America that we let the world see. The one where everybody does its own thing with no fear of reprisal of any kind. Plenty of sunshine, promiscuous pals, sexy lifeguards and polar bears drinking Coca-Cola.
And then, there is the America we live in, which from time to time reminds us that things aren't quite as we would like them to be or would like our neighbors to see.
This is one of those times.
A survey of 100,000 high school students by the University of Connecticut has shown that what many of us suspected was true indeed is: The youth of this nation is entirely clueless.
If you were to listen to the bright young minds who answered the survey, the First Amendment is either irrelevant or goes too far, flag burning is not protected free speech and the government can and does control Internet material.
Oh, and the colors of the flag are wrong, too. Actually, I made that part up, but it would not surprise me if one of these Einsteins thought they were.
This is not just kids being kids. These are people a year or two away from entering adulthood who are eminently unaware as to what their government does or does not do, as to what they can or can't do or as to what their rights are or aren't.
Sure, you may be thinking, "hey, you're just worried because the First Amendment protects newspaper writers." That's true, and it would be a valid argument if the only people it protected were the ink-stained wretches of the media. Are you an Internet-surfer? A TV watcher? A church-goer? Then you should be worried, too.
The display of bizarro knowledge by the holders of our nation's future goes on and on. Three in four students said flag burning is illegal and one out of two said the government can control indecent material on the Internet.
Ninety-nine percent of school principals and 97 percent of teachers polled said people should be allowed to express unpopular views. Only 83 percent of students agreed. Don't be surprised if in 20 years we see Joseph McCarthy's face on Mount Rushmore.
This is not, for once, about blue or red states, rich or poor people, conservative or liberal views. This is about a nation whose young people have no idea what the country they live in is founded on. Not even a passing knowledge. Seventy-five percent of the students polled said they did not know how they felt about the Bill of Rights or they took it for granted.
Too bad the First Amendment does not have a commercial during the Super Bowl halftime, or we might see a bit better numbers.
Come to think of it, the Super Bowl halftime ads are a commercial for the First Amendment.
There's an slogan for next year's show: "Like that ad? Thank your local copy of the Bill of Rights."
Sebastian Moraga is the city and politics reporter for the Columbia Basin Herald.