First-graders at the Bentley School in Oakland, Calif., recently provided their teacher with individual statements of their rights, which may serve as an indicator of the complicated social structure faced by that beleaguered 6-year-old smoocher reprimanded recently in North Carolina. Among the concerns of the Oakland students:
- "If someone is mean to you, you have the right to tell on them."- "If someone says they don't want to play with you, you have the right to go play with somebody that wants to play with you."
- "You have a right to order whatever lunch you want."
- "If you're playing with somebody, and someone comes and says you have to play with them, you have the right to tell them you don't want to."
- "You have the right to draw your own picture."
- "If you go over to the park, and someone wants to play with you, you can play with them, or you can always play with another friend."
- "You have the right to play with the hula hoops."
- Leah Garchik