This award winning short video was made by a group of teenagers, under the direction of a youth television program called "Rhinoplasty." My older son was on the team that made this video--look for the "Trapper."
The challenge, sent out to schools throughout the United States, was to make a short film that explained the first amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Most of these short films were very factual and straightforward. Because this film was created by a bunch of teenagers who were a loose confederation of kids who loved making videos, and were not in it for a grade, they took it as a lark and made something creative and wonderful.
For a link and more about how this video was created, go below the fold.
Since I don't know how to put imbed a YouTube video, here is the link:
Captain First Amendment Man on YouTube.
Now that you've seen it, wasn't it fun?
Why were these kids able to pull off such a funny video, when their public school peers could not? There are a variety of reasons. One of the most salient reasons is that they were not doing it for a grade, and therefore felt more free to innovate, less pressure to do it perfectly according to someone else's standards.
Although these teenagers came from both public high schools in the area, some of them were from Harmony School, which is the sponsor for the Rhino's Youth Program. Rhino's offers both the video creation program (their offerings are on the local community access station on a regular basis), a small alternative newspaper, a radio program, and a club where music groups perform in a no alcohol, no drugs, no violence atmosphere.
You can see why these folks are interested are First Amendment rights!
Harmony School's philosophy is centered around maximum freedom for their students. They also do a great deal of charity work in the community, such as a community garden that donates much of its produce to a shelter for battered women and children. It is the liberal education alternative in a school system that fires teachers for saying, "I honk for peace."
Many, many times on DKos there are people who advocate that the public school is the only place that children should be educated. I submit that creative afterschool programs like this; liberal alternative private schools such as Harmony; and my own choice, homeschooling (yes, the Trapper, my son, was exclusively homeschooled) are necessary alternatives. They are necessary because the government-run school system cannot always be trusted to uphold the free speech rights of students or teachers.
Just this past week, the Supreme Court refused to hear Deborah Mayer's case.
If my sons had gone to public school, they would have done so in an atmosphere of bigotry and fundamentalist Christianity. Instead, they grew up as liberal Lutherans in an environment in which their parents made sure that they appreciated smart people of every ethnicity of every time period. Our local homeschooling support group is specifically for all religions and none, having members on the religious spectrum from agnostics and atheists through Baptists, Lutherans (me!), Mormons, Quakers, Unitarians, and Zen Buddhists.
The first amendment's right of free assembly includes the right NOT to be forced into assembly with the local government-run school, in my opinion. To assemble instead with the other homeschooling kids who are taught by experts in the community, such as a brilliant math tutor in our community, the Rhino's videography group Rhinoplasty, the homeschooling mom who taught constitutional law to teenagers, the homeschooling mom who taught geology to teenagers, me teaching "Psychology in the Movies" and running the "Banned Book Club."
Before any of you disrespect homeschooling as an alternative education, remember Deborah Mayer; remember the public high school my children would have attended, which put "God Bless America" on its signboard after 9/11; remember "Captain First Amendment Man" and its creators, who included a homeschooled guy who learned constitutional law from his best friend's mother, and is now a conscientious objector to war.
(This is my first diary here; help with the YouTube link and with tags is appreciated.)