Civil Rights of Gifted Kids

We hear all the time about civil rights. We hear that we all have them and we often hear that someone's civil rights have been violated. If we all have civil rights, then gifted kids must have them too.

What Are Civil Rights?
According to Miriam-Webster, civil rights are "the nonpolitical rights of a citizen; especially the rights of personal liberty guaranteed to United States citizens by the 13th and 14th amendments to the Constitution and by acts of Congress."

No wonder people get confused about civil rights! What is a non-political right? If it's non-political, how is it guaranteed by an act of congress? James Donald provides a good explanation of civil rights. There is a difference between natural rights and rights granted by the government. Natural rights are those that exist outside of the government, rights that the government is simply supposed to protect. Sometimes the natural rights of a person or a group of people are denied and when that happens, we say their rights have been violated. The thirteenth and fourteenth amendments didn't give anyone any rights they didn't already have. They just made it clear that the rights mentioned can't be denied anymore.

So what rights do people have? Well, they have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Okay. What does the right to liberty include? Pretty much it means that we have social, economic, and political freedom. There are basically two things we believe about liberty: one person's liberty ends at the nose of the next person, and everyone should have equal liberty.

Equal Liberties - Equal Rights
Blacks and women struggled to gain equal rights. Gay men and women We've also come a long way in ensuring that the disabled have equal rights.

Civil Rights of Gifted Children
Wenda Sheard has written an interesting article on this issue: A Civil Rights Action for Gifted Children. It is about the case of Leila Levi's son, a profoundly gifted boy. More accurately, it is about the complaint that Levi filed with the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights on August 19, 1999. In her complaint, she accused the California Department of Education, the Los Angeles Unified School District, and Santa Monica Community College with age discrimination.

I have often said that schools practice age discrimination because they deny children the academic services they need simply because of their age. Children are placed into classrooms based on their age, not on their needs or abilities. Age discrimination is against the law, but only when it applies to adults, not to children.

How many court cases will need to be filed before gifted children get their civil rights? How long before their liberty is not denied?