Welcome to the second activity of the Give Me Liberty awards program. In our last activity, we learned that one of America’s greatest strengths is the ability of its people to come together to solve big, sometimes scary problems. That works best if everyone does their part.

In this activity, you’ll learn more about what it means to do your part, or in other words, what your responsibilities and rights are. Let’s start by watching this short video.

Transcription:

Imagine someone planted a garden of delicious fruits. At first, they took great care of it every day. But as life got busy, they visited their garden less and less.

When harvest time came, they excitedly went to their garden, hoping for some yummy fruit. But they were disappointed to find their plants had died because they didn’t give them what they needed to grow. They neglected their garden, so they lost out on tasty food.

As people, we have rights and responsibilities. The founders taught we all have “unalienable rights” that we deserve – or have, just because we’re human beings. These rights are things like the right to life, liberty, and to pursue happiness (which means growing your talents and trying to be a better person). It’s also things like owning property, speaking your mind, and protecting your family, among other things. Although government leaders may try to bully us into thinking they’ve taken away our rights, they never really can.

Rights are like a garden. As long as it's legal and doesn't hurt others, you can "plant" whatever you want. And, when you tend it responsibly, you can enjoy what you grow.

Responsibilities are tasks or jobs we are expected to take care of. When you don’t have responsibilities, other people make all the choices for you. But, the more responsibilities you have, the more freedom and choices you get. In the garden, the person was responsible for properly taking care of their fruits but didn’t take it seriously, so the garden died.

The founders knew rights and responsibilities go hand-in-hand. Giving up responsibilities means losing rights. It's like abandoning your garden - the plants die off and you miss out on the harvest. When you give up a responsibility, you lose a right. 

We have a responsibility to be a good neighbor, tell the truth, and not hurt others. When we don’t take these responsibilities seriously, then the government often takes over those responsibilities and we lose our freedom to speak our minds, care for others, and defend ourselves. However, when we take our responsibilities seriously, then we get more freedom to choose.