We live in America, the land of the free. We have a Constitution, a Bill of Rights and a… We live in America, the land of the free. We have a Constitution, a Bill of Rights and a longstanding tradition of placing value on our freedom of expression.

Why, then, is fourth-grader Zoe Hinkle’s plan to rally in defense of these freedoms such a terrible idea?

The girl, 10-years-old, has made a sign and convinced some of her classmates to rally with her outside of their Upper St. Clair elementary school. She sees a problem in school administrators’ policies and wants to show that she disagrees, according to an article in yesterday’s Tribune-Review.

Zoe isn’t rallying to keep an arts program alive. She isn’t holding signs demanding healthier food in the cafeteria or better cages for class gerbils.

Nope. This little girl is rallying for the right to wear her miniskirts to class. She got in trouble for having skirts that were too short last fall, and this spring the principal, Claire Miller, informed the school’s girls that their skirts must fall below the knee.

Zoe’s mother sees nothing wrong with her daughter’s fashionable outfits, most of which come from Limited Too. The skirts, she says, have shorts sewn in under them and none of her daughter’s clothing is provocative.

People can judge this for themselves; a photograph of the miniskirted girl is available on the Tribune-Review’s Web site. Although she is only 10 – still years away from being a teen-ager – she is dressed to fit in at any college party.

No one is an adult at 10-years-old. Children do not get to make all of their own decisions and do not always understand the implications of their actions. Zoe’s mother, and the mothers of many of these girls, should know better than to dress their children in the sort of clothing that may elicit stares from older men. They owe it to their daughters to explain what the consequences of wearing certain styles can be.

Instead of getting hyped up about proving how right she is, Zoe and her peers should be learning to respect the authority of school officials. It’s difficult to know where to draw the line when it comes to dress codes – every school measures things differently – but the principal has made this decision in the best interest of the students she is responsible for.

Whether the idea to rally was Zoe’s idea or her mother’s, the fact remains that it is a misguided attempt. That a young child values her rights this much is admirable – but these rights do not extend to school grounds. If the principal says knee-length or longer then that’s the rule, regardless of the Constitution.

And really, since most people wouldn’t want children taking their right to bear arms into the school, that’s just fine. There are certain things that don’t belong on school property – miniskirts are just one example.