Kids Are Americans Too by Bill O'Reilly Page A

fun with all of this stuff, I promise you.

FIRST UP
    You see it all the time on TV.
    On cop shows, on news programs like mine, someone is yelling, “Hey, I know my rights!”
    Well, maybe that person does, but probably not.
    Sometimes it’s just a lot of stupid shouting. Showing off. Like the Spartans and Persians in the movie 300. They give a bad name to “discussion of rights.”
    But, hey, your rights are very important to your life. In this country, the reason they exist at all is because smart, brave, honorable people fought—and still fight!—to make them work for you and for every other American.
    Especially you, kid.
    Listen up: Even though you’re not an adult yet, you’re just as much an American as anyone is. That includes your parents, your teachers, your boss, and the cop on the block.
    BUT…do you have the same rights as they do?
    No, you don’t.
    So, what’s the difference?
    Well, there are many, many differences. Sometimes the differences exist for good reasons…sometimes those reasons are debatable.
    That’s what this book is all about. When we finish this trip together, I hope you’ll feel that you know more than most people your age (and maybe some adults, too) about what your rights as a kid actually are. (And are not.)
    So, do any of these “rights” we’ve been talking about have anything to do with issues you really care about, like whether or not your school can keep you from wearing clothes that show off your bare midriff? Or whether your school locker can be searched by school officials without your permission? Or whether you can bring your date to the senior prom, even if she is enrolled at another school?
    You bet they do. That is exactly what we’re talking about. All of these are cases where you think you ought to be able to do something that other people—parents, school, community—say that you definitely cannot do.
    Let’s face it. Many American kids are complete morons. So are many American adults. As I say on TV, the Constitution gives all Americans the right to be a moron, and a lot of us exercise that right every day.
    When I use the word moron, I am referring to people who are simply too lazy to figure out what their country is all about.Yeah, they like the freedom to have fun and have stuff, but they don’t want to learn about how that freedom came to them.
    You, kid, are an American. You have an obligation to be a good citizen. That means that you should be honest and pay attention to what happens in the United States and in the rest ofthe world, too. The iPods, computers, cell phones, and Black-Berries are fine, but you need to get out of yourself once in a while and look around in order to see and understand what is actually happening here in your America.
    Many kids simply do not do that. Don’t be one of them.
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    !PRODUCT WARNING!
    In this book, I’m not going to talk about your rights under criminal law. For example, I’m not going to discuss whether or not you will be tried as an adult or juvenile if you are accused of committing certain crimes. I hope you don’t NEED to know any of that stuff. If you DO, you need a lawyer. What I want us to talk about are your rights as a law-abiding, hardworking, fun-loving individual kid. In other words, we’re talking about your rights to a fair shake in life, when you give life a fair shake back.
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    Knowing your rights and respecting them will make you a better person and a more successful one. Just by reading thisbook you are demonstrating that you are way ahead of the pack.
    It’s doubtful that Britney Spears would have read this book when she was your age. And look what’s happened to her. The woman keeps forgetting her undergarments! I guess she has a right to do that but, I mean, come on!
    I also want you to know a little bit about where your rights come from and (get this!) how, sometimes, you might be able to