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ACLU presents
Young Americans talking Constitution
Without the Constitution, I would not be able to freely express myself. I wouldn't be able
to complain about not making as much as I want for the work I do or any of those things;
because, in another country I could work three times as hard and make a banana.
I have this horrible habit of being very honest, and I like my freedom of speech.
Well, I like the 19th Amendment because it gave me the right to vote.
Clearly we've made a lot of amendments to the Constitution so it wasn't perfect when
they first made it.
They just set a guideline for our rights, but they didn't list all of them; so, it gave
room for interpretation.
You can be gay now and get married. You can be black and get scholarships.
I think it's good because our society is constantly advancing so our laws need to, too.
We set down these ground rules at the very start of our nation, and it's helped bring
us to where we are today as a world power, but if we detract from them, if we move away
from these really basic principals then we're going to be lost.
Screen shows: A lost generation?
Many kids in our generation don't follow policies, don't care about anything.
I've been cynical before. I've definitely been cynical.
If someone's not pleased, they're just either going to protest, or they're not going to
care at all. And, our attitude with as many things as we associate with..we have alcohol,
video games...we have an attitude that we don't care.
People are so absorbed with like the media being just so superficial, just thinking about
like Britney Spears and all of these little pop stars, and, you know, all of this stuff
that really isn't relevant to the real state of the world.
It's kind of sad that nobody cares anymore, because basically the people before worked
for nothing.
Slide shows: What happened?
We're not taught the Constitution from that aspect because of our civics classes. All
of the teachers in there...all, they are, are football coaches. You go to any high school,
it's usually a coach. All they are going to teach about is football and what's coming
up the next Friday night. And, basically the students just nap. They don't learn anything
about the Constitution and they don't care, when they get out of high school, anything
about their fundamental rights.
I think that we do actually understand what's going on. And, we are just so disenfranchised
by what the older generations do that we don't feel compelled to act. There's nothing that.
we really don't feel that we can do anything.
There's also a kind of little cynicism about a document that's not being followed by some
of our highest officials and people of power, so ....
Screen shows: Is there hope?
There is hope; but, it's going to take quite awhile. I don't expect my generation to make
any difference at this moment.
I think our generation has discovered the value of the Constitution.
People tend to be very passionate about politics; but only the politics that refer to them.
I don't see any spark. We're all just laying back on our computers; doing homework, studying,
and trying to make money.
My problem with that assessment is: I think that our generation knows, I just think that
our generation hasn't gotten a chance.
A lot of people don't go back to the original Constitution and check out and say: "Hey,
wait a minute. Is what we're saying actually in the Constitution? Is there something in
the Constitution that can solve this issue right now? Why are we even debating about
it?"
And, I want to believe there's at least one person that can say that they still believe
in the Constitution and in everyone's rights.
Screen shows: Learn more.
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