A Victory!

I wrote this little paragraph the other day, not really expecting to do anything with it, but lo and behold! It got published in my tiny town's newspaper! YAY!

"The No Child Left Behind Act causes many a different reaction in people. Some positive, some negative, but both usually referring to education. As a student in the public school system, I find that this valiantly named federal law affects me directly and it is important that I take an interest in it. So upon finding this little detail, I'm wondering, "What does this have to do with helping my education?"
Section 9528 of the Act, snuggled between, "Prohibitions On Federal Government And Use of Federal Funds" and, "Prohibition On Federally Sponsered Testing" is something kind of weird.
"Armed Forces Recruiter Access To Students and Student Recruiter Information." This is a little catch that basically says that my school, because it is federally funded, is required to give military recruiters my private information for recruiting purposes. I find this both irritating and unecessary to improving my learning. My first thought, admittedly, was, "That was sneaky."
However, then, I found the fine print, so to speak. "(2) CONSENT." If my parents and I choose to opt out of this bizarre bit of the Act, all I have to do is have them sign a form saying that they wouldn't really like my information to be handed off randomly, and the school has to have their consent before giving a recruiter my number. So I did. I Opted Out. I like my rights just fine, thanks."

HAHAHAHA! Success! Sort of...