STUDENTS SWAP HATS WITH U.S. LAWMAKERS.Byline: Lee Condon Daily News Staff Writer As a 17-year-old high school senior, there is little Ben Berger can do about the 1996 Communications Decency Act See CDA. (legal) Communications Decency Act - (CDA) An amendment to the U.S. 1996 Telecommunications Bill that went into effect on 08 February 1996, outraging thousands of Internet users who turned their web pages black in protest. , which he claims infringes on his First Amendment rights. But on Saturday, Berger had the chance to speak his mind. During a pretend session of Congress for teen-agers in Glendale, Berger introduced a bill to repeal the act, a law that makes it a crime to distribute indecent or offensive material to children on the Internet. Berger, a Van Nuys High School Van Nuys High School (VNHS) established in 1914, is a high school in the Van Nuys area of Los Angeles, California, belonging to the Los Angeles Unified School District: District 2. senior, said he believes the act is unnecessary, because parents already can block their children's access to certain parts of the Internet. ``It restricts freedom of speech,'' said Berger, one of 250 students from 30 Southern California high schools attending the congressional session, sponsored by a nonprofit group called Junior State of America The Junior State of America (formerly Junior Statesmen of America) (“JSA”) is an American non-partisan student-run youth organization. The purpose of the JSA is to help high school students acquire leadership skills and the knowledge necessary to be effective . A total of eight San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. high schools sent representatives. If his bill makes it to the House floor today, Berger can expect a challenge from Stephanie Hold, an El Camino Real High School El Camino Real High School (also known locally as "ECR" and by some more recently as "ELCO") is a public secondary school located in the Woodland Hills district of the San Fernando Valley region of the city of Los Angeles, California. freshman, who said her experiences on line show the need for the Communications Decency Act. ``I occasionally get e-mail inviting me to Web sites, and it turns out they are advertisements for pornography,'' Hold said. ``I'm 14; the fact that they're sending this to me is ridiculous.'' Besides debating whether to control Net pornography, students grappled with some of the most controversial issues of the day, including welfare reform, same-sex marriage, assisted suicide assisted suicide: see euthanasia. , gays in the military, child labor laws Federal and state legislation that protects children by restricting the type and hours of work they perform. The specific purpose of child labor laws is to safeguard children against harm generally associated with child labor, such as exposure to hazardous, unsanitary, or , Social Security, illegal immigration and affirmative action affirmative action, in the United States, programs to overcome the effects of past societal discrimination by allocating jobs and resources to members of specific groups, such as minorities and women. . ``It's very difficult to get your opinion heard when you're under 18,'' said Amy Messigian, the 17-year-old speaker of the House. Now a senior at Monroe High School For other uses, see James Monroe High School. Monroe High School may refer to:
The special congressional convention held Saturday and today is one of nine such events sponsored by Junior State of America across the nation annually. Some 60 bills were proposed Saturday, when both House and Senate committees met at the Red Lion Hotel in Glendale. Today, the full house and Congress will convene at the hotel to vote on the bills that have made it through both House and Senate committees. Besides dealing with bills that are similar to those proposed in Congress, the students also jumped into some new arenas, including a proposal to ban Barbie. Describing Barbie as a negative role model for young girls who are vulnerable to eating disorders, the proposal calls for Mattel to discontinue producing the doll and for all existing Barbies to be melted down to create tires and small bouncing balls. James Simmons of Claremont High School Claremont High School can refer to:
``Jurors who have an inferior education are easily swayed,'' Simmons said. ``High school graduates are not as likely to give in to lies and allegations made by the lawyers.'' There also were bills naming English as the standard language of the United States, declaring ``Grease'' the national movie, suspending foreign aid to African nations, and abolishing gender and race specifications on college applications. Alfio Rosetti of Servite High in Anaheim said only about six of the 60 proposed bills are expected to make it to the Senate floor today. ``This really challenges you to think,'' Rosetti said. ``You're getting the most involved and animated students at their schools.'' A total of eight San Fernando Valley schools participated, including Agoura, Buckley, Calabasas, El Camino Real El Camino Real (Spanish for The Royal Road or The King's Highway) was the name of a series of pre-automobile highways linking the various New World colonies of Spain:
CAPTION(S): 2 Photos Photo: (1) Ryan Barber, right, sets a patriotic mood at a mock congressional session in Glendale on Saturday. (2) Jordan Hinkes of Calabasas High makes a case for his bill before students representing 30 schools. Tom Mendoza/Daily News |
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