Kids Are Americans Too (9 page)

Congratulations!

You've completed a book that should help you become a better American. And the country needs you. That's right…the country needs you.

During my trip to Iraq in December 2006, I met hundreds of American military people ages eighteen to twenty-five. They are young adults, as you will be in a very short time. They are sacrificing greatly, trying to bring freedom and “rights” to oppressed people.

I really respect those young Americans.

Like millions of other Americans before them, our military people are willing to die so that strangers can have the right to freedom. How noble is that? And how powerful is the right to freedom?

So, when thinking about your rights as a kid, please think about our military people. They are the direct successors of Ben,
Tom, and all the rest who have kept focused on the “rights” thing throughout the history that gave you the life you have now. These young people in uniform today should make you proud. And so should your unique country, which stands for freedom throughout the world.

Thanks for reading this book, kid.

I wish you a great life.

A BRIEF GUIDE TO TERMS

Competing rights

A student you know has the right to privacy, like all the rest of us. You have the right to protect yourself from being harmed, like all the rest of us. Has he hidden a loaded pistol in his school locker? For the school to search the locker without his permission, your right to life outweighs his right to privacy. Each right is golden in itself, but sometimes they have to be weighed against each other for the greatest possible good.

Due process

The rules! You have the right to be protected from a government that would arrest, try, and convict you unfairly. Your rights to fairness at every step of the process are guaranteed. Tom, Ben, and
the rest believed that human beings with power can't always be trusted. They knew from experience. A judge who can be bribed? A prosecutor who will convict an innocent person in order to further his political ambitions? A rogue cop who might “plant” evidence? These things happen. The Philadelphia guys knew it. But they also knew that laws and procedures could be set down in clear English so that good people could try to follow them.

Original intent

That's what the writers of the Constitution were actually thinking back then…or would be thinking if they knew about video surveillance and DNA testing and all the rest of the developments in our century. Is it possible to know for sure what they would have been thinking? Well, no. Not exactly. But we all have to work at it, or the system falls apart.

Parental obligation

This is what you have the right to expect from your parent(s) or legal guardian(s), as defined by your state. Of course, they're not supposed to harm you and they're required to take care of your needs, as long as you're a minor. Even so, some courts have found gray areas here.

Probable cause

This is a concrete reason to suspect that you're guilty of something. If someone else's missing iPod falls out of your jacket pocket, it's “probable” that you stole it. That's not proof, but it's reason enough for the authorities to search your person and otherwise pursue the truth. Same idea with the scent of marijuana on your clothes, or an open bottle of vodka visible through your car window.

Reasonable suspicion

A lesser standard than probable cause, this right is given to your school authorities by your state in order to protect the students in their care. In other words, as we talked about earlier, they can search your locker without “probable cause” but with “reasonable suspicion.” For a more precise definition of this term, many a lawsuit has been taken to the courts. (You are not surprised.)

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