Freedom and democracy

Some time ago I came across this quote by Royce Van Norman, who wrote about school administration in the 60's:

Is it not ironic that in a planned society of controlled workers given compulsory assignments, where religious expression is suppressed, the press controlled, and all media of communication censored, where a puppet government is encouraged but denied any real authority, where great attention is given to efficiency and character reports, and attendance at cultural assemblies is mandatory, where it is avowed that all will be administered to each according to his needs and performance required from each according to his abilities, and where those who flee are tracked down, returned, and punished for trying to escape - in short in the milieu of the typical large American secondary school - we attempt to teach 'the democratic system'?

I am reminded of this quote pretty frequently. You can't teach a child how to be a citizen and a participant in a democracy without giving them democratic freedoms and a meaningful voice. I don't think it's much of a mystery that most Americans don't vote, and that the youngest adults are least likely to vote. This isn't because they're young and irresponsible, it's because they just got out of school. They have no sense of being able to control or influence anything, no sense of themselves as citizens; instead they have fatalism. Also, they're used to being told what to think by an authority figure, and become confused when opposing candidates tell them different things. And their attitude toward democracy is rather shaky-- for instance, students have little respect for the Bill of Rights:

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....

Possibly students are internalizing the distaste for freedom of the press which they experience in school. For instance:

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. (AP) -- Copies of a high school's student newspaper were seized by administrators because the edition contained stories about birth control and tattoos, stirring a First Amendment debate.

Administrators at Oak Ridge High School went into teachers' classrooms, desks and mailboxes to retrieve all 1,800 copies of the newspaper last week, said teacher Wanda Grooms, who advises the staff, and Brittany Thomas, the student editor.

The Oak Leaf's birth-control article listed success rates for different methods and said contraceptives were available from doctors and the local health department. Superintendent Tom Bailey said the article needed to be edited so it would be acceptable for the entire school.

In fact, however, this edition of the paper was re-printed and distributed without the birth control story in any form. It wasn't edited, it was deleted.

Only 83 percent of high school students agreed that people should be able to express unpopular views (see above Bill of Rights link). It's pretty shocking that almost 1 in 5 high school students thinks minority voices should be silenced, but then, they're used to being silenced themselves. They're used to speaking only with permission, and they're used to having their personal appearance edited whenever it fails to conform. In one of my earliest posts I compiled a list of stories in which schools took disciplinary action over a student's appearance, including suspending students for nose studs, copper-colored hair, and a "vegan sweatshirt," whatever that means. A related story popped up in today's headlines:

ATLANTA - A federal judge in Atlanta has ruled in favor of a Gwinnett County honors student who was disciplined for violating the school's "anti-gang clothing" policy.Judge Beverly Martin agreed that the policy is -- quote -- "fatally vague." She has enjoined the state's largest school district from enforcing parts of the dress code....

Marlyn Tillman approached the ACLU after school officials at Brookwood High School punished her son for so-called "gang-related activity" based on the color and/or style of his clothing. She says her son -- who has never been in a gang -- was disciplined several times for clothing items and accessories. She says the items included a pocket watch, a rolled-up pants leg and a shirt with the student's nickname on the back.

She says she and her son -- now a senior who remains in advanced-placement classes -- are happy with the judge's ruling.

In her words, "He feels as though finally, he can get back to education and not be as concerned with are the fashion police after him."

The heavy control of students in schools cannot produce strong, independent citizens who speak their minds and demand their rights. But then, it really isn't meant to.