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Use this book as a tool to improve the quality of your life in school, and the quality of life for all young people. One reason we have written this book for you is to help bridge the gap between young Black and young White people. I agree completely with Frederick Douglass, who said: "I esteem myself a good, persistent hater of injustice and oppression, but my resentment ceases when they cease, and I have no heart to visit upon children the sins of their fathers." He also said: “You cannot outlaw one part of the people without endangering the rights and liberties of all people. You cannot put a chain on the ankles of bondsmen without finding the other end of it about your own neck... Experience proves that those are oftenest abused who can be abused with greatest impunity. Men are whipped often who are whipped easiest."

We believe it is imperative that you, as a student, learn to use the law as a tool for survival in a society that can be, at times, oppressive. That is the purpose of this book. According to Nathan Wright, it is the duty of the oppressed to save both himself and the oppressor. According to Martin Luther King, power is never good unless he who has it is good. Malcolm X advised young people to "think for yourselves."

Less than two percent of the lawyers in this nation come from Black and other "minority" groups. It is imperative that more young people from lower economic groups become interested in the law. The Student Rights Center, 1145 Germantown Street, is trying to convince those in power that they can concede power to students and that, by sharing their power with young people, they can create a true democracy within the Dayton schools.

Margaret Mead, the anthropologist, talks about three kinds of cultures: the post-figurative, where the young learn from the old; co-figurative, where the old and

24 Student Rights Handbook

young learn from their own peer groups; and pre-figurative, where the old learn from the young. She says we are now strongly moving into a pre-figurative culture. So it becomes more and more important for you to know your rights under the law. You will be setting the pace and the style of the future.

We think it is important to remember that the idea of "student rights" is a frightening thing to parents, teachers, and administrators, but that they have to be convinced that to give students rights is not to take away parent, teacher, and administrator rights. In a book called In Defense of Youth, Earle C. Kelley wrote: "Hostile attitudes on the part of the elders are quickly sensed by youth whose response in many instances is hostility and aggression. The conflict between age and youth is one of the saddest aspects of our culture. And the saddest fact of all is that age always strikes the first blow."

There are many fine teachers and administrators in the Dayton system who will help you. There are also some who will be afraid of you and work against you. Using this book, you can defend your rights within the bounds of the law. That is the only kind of lasting and meaningful defense that I know. Use this book as a tool to defend your human rights in school. Do not use it as a substitute for a lawyer. There are two reasons for this. First, the law, by its nature, is constantly changing. Although several attorneys helped write this handbook, only an attorney who knows all the facts of a case can fully advise you of your legal rights. Second, there is a crucial difference between legal theory and practice. How people enforce laws in a community is often more important than what the Supreme Court says in Washington.

We at the Center love, trust, and respect you and have

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confidence in your ability to use this book to make democracy for the young a reality.

The handbook was developed with the assistance of many people. Among these were: Robert Bowman, Walter Brooks, Ruth Burgin, Joe Cannon, Ames Chapman, Michael Geltner, Ellen Hanson, Larry Hillman, Ellis Hutchinson, Ted Lauer, Richard Menefee, Donnie Moore, William Patterson, Carolyn Peck, James Phillips, Paul Piersma, Carolyn Russell, John Saunders, Robbie Smith, David Turner, Claudius Walker and Ferieda Walker.

The following organizations and individuals played a major role in the development of the Student Rights Center. Their hard work and dedication is tremendously appreciated: The Dayton Model Cities Planning Council, The Community School Councils, Marcia Brockenborough, Edgar Cahn, Jean Camper Cahn, Patricia Clarkson, Steve Huber, Michael Kantor, Bruce Kirschenbaum, Terry Lenzner, Troy Overby, Elliot Stanley and Nancy Stanley.

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER . . . BE THE BEST OF
WHATEVER YOU ARE, AND IT'S WHEN THINGS
SEEM WORST THAT YOU MUST NOT QUIT.

Yours in the struggle for the best possible
education for all of you very beautiful
and together young people.

E. Thoma