Kids are OK

I’m worried. I just viewed a news clip on television about adolescents and their ideas of self-expression, things that include hair dyeing, body piercing, using chains as jewelry and tattoos. That does not disturb me as much as how these youngsters are being evaluated and stereotyped as being hoodlums.

Let me tell you about my “hoodlum” son. He is presently on the highest honor roll, he volunteers his time as a mentor for troubled juveniles, he holds down a summer job and is applying for higher education at the University of California, Berkeley. He’s 15-year-old junior in high school. He wears black nail polish and dog chains.

This phase will pass as they did when I was growing up. People fear unorthodox expression. I’m afraid that my son will suffer consequences because of the way he chooses to express himself.

If we keep pushing these kids with a zero tolerance for expression, such as using metal detectors, locker searches and dress codes, we will find out just how much injustice these young men and women will submit to. Remember these words by Frederick Douglas in 1857: “The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.”

I’m not worried about the impact that my son’s self-expression has on society. I’m worried about society’s impact on my son. Sam McGuire Caribou