Free Impulse by Ellen Hopkins

Mr. Hidalgo isn't as smart as his students.
    Good morning, all, he says.
    Today, we ' re writing essays.
    Topic: The Patriot Act, right, wrong, or indifferent.
    A half-dozen groans answer his request, but I like putting my opinion on paper for the world to read. Conner raises his hand. 219
    224
    Excuse me, sir, but can
    you tell us, please, how the Patriot Act affects the rights of minors?
    I mean, we were basically
    locked up here without a hint of " due process. "
    How is that any different than treading all over the due process of a so-called adult?
    Mr. Hidalgo clears his throat, considers how to answer a student as impertinent-- yet polite and somehow correct, in context--as
    Conner. 220
    225
    Okay, I Should Have
    Kept my mouth shut, gone with the flow, especially the first day in Mr. Hidalgo's class. But I need to know
    what makes every teacher tick. Some really care about their students' reasoning processes. Others just stick to the three Rs--rote learning, recitation, rhetoric. In here, I didn't expect to find a discerning
    teacher. But Mr. Hidalgo does seem pretty reasonable. He even allowed me to expand on the theme
    "due process and minors." Why do I care, anyway? "Life" has lately not meant much. I haven't a clue why 221
    226
    "liberty" should concern me.
    Like I've ever really been free? (Or ever could be.)
    Whatever. At least I've got
    something to do besides pace my room. I start to write, in a perfect hand so I won't have to erase.
    One thing I won't stand for is a sloppy paper, and I
    refuse to write a first draft, then have to copy over.
    227
    Duplicating Effort
    Is a true waste of time, one I watch others take unusual pride in--spilling mistakes, which must be undone before turning in their papers. Why not just do it right the first time? Working around the knot in my neck, I write:
    Our forefathers envisioned the Bill of Rights as a safety net--necessary corrections of the Constitution c oversights.
    But where did they write that one must be at least eighteen for those rules to apply? Would they have found such a provision just, when many patriots of the day, who died in the name of freedom, were themselves only boys? I've made the same argument 223
    228
    before, in a different school, with another teacher. Like her, Mr. Hidalgo is cool with my opinion.
    You ' ve made some excellent
    observations, and conveyed
    your thoughts clearly. I have
    high expectations of you.
    High expectations--great, I burned myself again. You'd think by now I would have learned to underachieve. 224
    229
    Especially in Here
    Where underachievement is an art. Not that success isn't possible for these people, that they're not smart.
    If Justin could just get past his Jesus fetish, he'd likely be an algebra whiz, but such linear
    thinking conflicts with his four-dimensional ideals. Then there's Nathan, whose unconventional theories about extraterrestrial visitation defy known laws of science: E.T, the brains behind creation.
    Tony, at least, is rooted in reality tinted as his view might be, intertwined with his iffy sexuality. 225
    230
    He puts his words on paper well; writes with clarity and passion; is not afraid to tell us how he feels:
    Freedom is a double-edged
    ideal, because true freedom
    comes without the protection of laws that also enslave us by defining us--female, male; Christian, Islamic; good, evil. All at the whim of a frail minority.
    Right on. 226
    231
    Odd Thing Happened
    When I started school here, at Aspen Springs. I found out I'm good at it. I never was before. Of course, I never had much chance to excel in the juvenile detention center. Anything I learned was because I wanted to, not because someone expected me to. I'd be a total ignoramus
    if not for Phillip. Now he expected great things from me. And being an ex-college professor, he was just the gentleman to teach me. 227
    232
    He taught me the basics-- algebra, biology U.S. history. He taught me the extras-- trig, chemistry world affairs. He taught me the