Practicing Your First Amendment Rights

I'm trying to think back to when I was 7 or when I was 9 and I can remember vague things. I can remember some of my friends from school, I can remember some of the trips we took. I can even remember the house we were living in. I certainly can't remember ever protesting anything, other than to my parents. I would protest simple things like having to eat foods I didn't like or going to bed earlier than I felt was appropriate. But I guess kids these days are a little bolder and wiser than I was because now they're already learning to practice their 1st Amendment rights in very public ways.

I ran across an article in the paper today about 9-year-old Sadie and 7-year-old Pyper Vance of Salt Lake City and their pictured protest on the streets downtown. What they're protesting is the fact that due to rising fuel costs, their parents have been forced to take cost saving cuts and among the cuts was cable television. The impact was immediate and profound; though money was being cut, for the two young sisters it was a chance to take to the streets to voice their opinion on not being able to partake in their daily intake of cartoons and shows. Now you can argue the pros and cons of such actions but one thing remains true in this whole thing and that is that two sisters who haven't even finished elementary school yet are taking to the streets to protest before the rest of adult society even thinks about it. Why is that?

I think part of the reason for kids to do so is the fact that TV is probably the one thing that they will be affected by the most. If you don't have TV, that too cable TV, and are forced to watch... oh the horror!... local broadcasting you are okay for now but come February 2009, you're going to be seeing snow unless you're hooked up to a digital receiver. Perhaps it's a good thing that people are starting to cut back on TV. As it is, our society is often ridiculed and mocked for its over-reliance on television as a means of doing everything from babysitting to education. Maybe it is a bad thing that such 'activities' have such a great impact on us but it illustrates one point quite clearly and that is that until some course of action affects our means of happiness quite directly, we are wont to adjust until it reaches the boiling point.

By that I mean that as adults, we'll complain about rising fuel costs, we'll read articles on how to save a few bucks by cutting down on the number of times we eat out or the number of vanilla lattes we drink but we adjust. We don't protest because there are usually counter protests. Don't like the fact that fuel costs are on the rise? Too bad... the tree-hugging 'green lovers' out there will start cheering on rising fuel costs because it will mean more people will be finally cutting down on the number of gas guzzling vehicles they drive. More people will ride bikes to work; pollution will decrease. And Arnold Schwarzenegger will be elected US President in 2008. Though a lot of these things are possible, they aren't necessarily likely.

I think it's wonderful that two kids are out there protesting the state of the union in such a way. It's a shame that these two kids will only get a passing mention here or there and that if any politicians make an effort to meet with these two girls, it will give them ten more minutes in their fifteen minutes of fame and will do some wonders for the politician come election time. "He cares for kids issues," will be the statements that will be most often heard. Never mind that the basis for the original protest had to do with something else completely. Perhaps someday we adults will get our act together and learn to protest the way these kids do. I know it's a dream right now but one can hope can't he?