Chris Hopkins prepares for cops with Civil Liberties folder

After the Columbine shootings, my school and school board issued two notices detailing what their new policies would be to avoid these. Before reading the policies, I felt the unconscious urge to groan. Although most of them were not too oppressive (a surprise for one of today’s government propaganda mills), three of them truly caught my attention. The first enacted a zero-tolerance weapons and drugs policy. To put it in the words of Jim Morrison, “I believe that’s just a shortcut to thinking.”

The second and third were related. They allowed administrators to conduct random, unannounced searches of lockers, backpacks, and students.

Even though I do not expect to be caught on these new attempts to stifle any attempt at personal responsibility in the name of safety, I still recognize these as a direct violation of 4th amendment rights. More importantly, they also wish to install metal detectors and hire someone to monitor the security cameras. Though I have no problem with this personally, it is one step closer to hand-held metal detectors and then not too much longer to legal strip searches.

So, in response and largely due to articles found on your web page, I have created what I call a “Civil Liberties Folder.” In it, I keep articles and court cases that are proof of my rights within school (I’m trying to find a convenient way to carry one outside to protect myself from unchained police who seem to have nothing better to do in a suburban town than hassle teenagers.)

I highly suggest to any and all Rockstars out there to look though this page and as many others as you can find and keep a copy of any article or highlights from any court case (make sure you get case names or it won’t mean much) that will support your cause. If you like, staple a copy of the Bill Of Rights in the inside cover as I did, since it is the most crucial document you could possibly put in there.

Most importantly, try to read it in class (when school starts numbing our brains to the point of being perfect machines again) and let anyone who is curious read as well. If you see injustice, have the courage to step in for that person, even if you can’t stand them.

This is the new passive resistance. By knowing our rights and spreading that information we have earned them. I just thought others might benefit from this.