Author aims to explain Constitution to kids

AUSTIN, TEXAS -- American schoolchildren don't get the U.S. Constitution.

Jessica Turner, 13, can't differentiate between it and the Declaration of Independence. "Aren't they connected, like they're the same thing but passed at different times?" she says while walking along Town Lake with her mother, Meredith.

Actually that's half true: The declaration was signed in 1776, the Constitution in 1787. But confusing the two documents is a common error, says Joe Ramirez, the interim supervisor of social studies for the Austin Independent School District.

"That's one of the biggest misconceptions. They don't know the difference, especially in the lower grades," he says.

Cathy Travis, an aide to U.S. Rep. Solomon Ortiz, a Texas Democrat, wants to help clear things up with her fifth-grade-level book, "Constitution Translated for Kids." It might prove useful for kids' parents, as well, because adults don't fare much better with their knowledge of the cornerstone document of American freedoms and protections.

"This is embarrassing," says Meredith, Jessica's mother. She can't name all five basic freedoms granted by the First Amendment. "Speech, religion and the right to a fair trial. That's it," she says in an apologetic way. (She left out a free press and the right to assembly. Fair trial is the Sixth Amendment, while the right to petition the government over grievances is in the First Amendment.)

According to a recent survey by the McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum in Chicago, one in five adults named all five members of "The Simpsons" cartoon family but only 1 in 1,000 named all five basic freedoms.

It's not surprising that Americans are in the dark about a document meant to shine light on the rights and protections that govern everyday life, says Travis, communications director for Ortiz. Blame the founders' legalese, she says. "You read some of it and ask, 'What???"

Travis, a U.S. Constitution aficionado since her college days at Arkansas State University, began to work on her idea for an easy-to-read translation in 1992. It wasn't until the electoral college dispute during the 2000 election that her idea caught the attention of Synergy Books, and her $16.95 book was published this spring. It is available in bookstores and online at www.constitutiontranslatedforkids.com.

She uses the approach of reprinting the Constitution on the left side of each page and explaining it with fewer, simpler words on the right side.

For example, the Constitution begins: "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity ... " Travis translates: "We the people of the United States -- so we can make a country, get along fairly, stay safe, defend ourselves, take care of each other and make sure we and our children stay free. ..."

She targets fifth-graders but it's for older students, too.

Erica Rendon, 16, of Corpus Christi, met Travis, read her book and was inspired to write an essay on the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote. "It was so easy to understand because she breaks it down," says Erica, who now uses the book to teach her 10-year-old sister.

In Austin, public school students first get a major dose of the Constitution in the fifth grade and again in the eighth grade. They are also quizzed in state-mandated tests in high school.

Travis, who always carries a small copy of the Constitution, says the Fourth of July is a good opportunity for parents to discuss what she calls a "brilliant document" with their children. "When you're on your way to church, talk about how great it is to go wherever you want and listen to whatever you want. And that here in America, we welcome every single faith," she says.

"It's our only common birthright."