Government school asks kids to justify repealing amendments from the Bill of Rights

Students are told that the Bill of Rights is "outdated" and amendments needed to be "pruned."

BRYANT, AR — A school district in Arkansas delivered a controversial assignment to 6th grade students. The assignment asked them to pretend to be on a government panel tasked with dissecting and revising the “outdated” Bill of Rights.

To help the children feel more like real bureaucrats, they were given a 4-letter acronym for their team, theNBTF: the National Revised Bill of Rights Task Force.

The worksheet, dated October 7th, students them with “pruning” amendments from the Bill of Rights because the government has “determined that it is outdated and may not remain in its current form any longer,” in a country mired in terrorist threats.

It reads as follows:


A worksheet from a government school in Bryant, Arkansas (Source: Lela Spears / digitaljournal.com)

Continued on page two:


A worksheet from a government school in Bryant, Arkansas (Source: Lela Spears / digitaljournal.com)

This assignment might have been intellectually stimulating if delivered to students who had a firm grasp of the constitution, and was not presented in such an inaccurate and leading manner.

Students aren’t being asked if the constitution has a problem. They are being told it has a problem.

Not only that, they are being told that the problem is derived from the original 10 amendments, not the subsequent amendments and laws that would follow.

Instead of an open-ended analysis of the amendments — and if they are being followed — students are told to pick two and delete them; finding faults in things that may not be faulty.

The assignment leads students towards conclusions that many Americans would find offensive.

Furthermore, the 6th grade students are probably coming away from this assignment with a totally false impression of the amendment process. It isn’t done through a panel of bureaucrats because “the government determined” that some edits needed to be made. The constitution is amended when 3/4 of the state legislatures agree to ratify a new amendment.

Which rights are you willing to give up?

The Bill of Rights, as mentioned earlier, is comprised by the first ten amendments to the constitution. These enshrined an effort to contain the federal government from grasping powers it was never meant to have by the nation’s founding fathers. If followed, these particular amendments would provide a strong barrier against the federal government turning into a centralized police state.

Most modern, government-educated Americans have very little understanding or appreciation for what is contained in the Bill of rights. Statist politicians, educators, and journalists regularly push the idea that the document is “outdated,” or that it is a “living document” that can be reinterpreted without following the amendment process.

Its no surprise that the country has been allowed to fall down the path toward authoritarianism when the public is dubiously “educated” in this way during their time spent in compulsory government institutions. Either people don’t know their rights, or they are predisposed to want to give them up for more government-imposed security.

Does it seem like a conflict of interest for the government to teach citizens about how to contain thegovernment’s power? Do you see any amendments that you are willing to “prune” from this list?

• Amendment I. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
• Amendment II. A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
• Amendment III. No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
• Amendment IV. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
• Amendment V. No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb, nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
• Amendment VI. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed; which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defence.
• Amendment VII. In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.
• Amendment VIII. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
• Amendment IX. The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
• Amendment X. The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.