ABSTRACT
The cultivation of citizenship is central to liberty, a necessary antecedent to the formal structures of democracy. The Union has focused on challenging the wisdom of moral education and the supremacy of school administrators. The Detroit Civil Liberties Union established two task forces to address the problems of crime and education and eventually combined both to form the Task Force on Violence in the Schools. It developed thirteen recommendations, all of which were offered to the school board. By making the school environment a less disciplined place than it needs to be, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) helps to erode the schools of fulfilling their number one obligation, namely, the education of all students. ACLU officials are aware, naturally, that sex education programs that emphasize contraceptives and abortion are the rule and curricula that stress abstinence are the exception. The subject of students' rights is no exception, as a reading of ACLU policies and actions in this area testifies.
