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["Melody O." <melody AT crecon.com>]

At 02:39 AM 2/1/05 -0500, you wrote:
>Why anyone would bother polling or publishing the opinion of high schoolers
>is beyond me. Catch them in a few years when they start paying taxes.

You mean once they start paying taxes as patriotic Americans? <grin> Sorry,
different thread.

Anyway, it is interesting at just what high schoolers think because it
shows what is, or is not, being taught in school. The chances are very high
that if they don't learn about the Constitution and Bill of Rights in
school they will never take the time as adults. 

As I followed the link on the site Lynda gave, I read that one Congressman
wants every school that receives federal monies to study the Constitution
and celebrate Constitution Day on Sept. 17th, which is the birthday of the
Constitution, ratified in 1787.  He was shocked and dismayed at the number
of students that simply didn't know the content of the Constitution and
Bill of Rights.  (quote from the article:) "Yet, when told of the exact
text of the First Amendment, more than one in three high school students
said it goes "too far" in the rights it guarantees. Only half of the
students said newspapers should be allowed to publish freely without
government approval of stories."  Amazing.   

I have talked with people about the Constitution, even tax paying citizens
<grin> many think that the Bill of Rights should only be given to "good
citizens", and that "of course there should be gun laws, are you crazy?"
Many think that you shouldn't be able to say what you think, "because you
have to be polite", etc. etc.

Too many in our country don't have any idea of the content the Constitution
and the Bill of Rights, though if asked they would say "of course we do!"
It simply isn't taught and few read it on their own.

I believe the survey was totally accurate and the results could have been
that of the adult population as well.

Best wishes,
Melody