If silence is golden, Simon and Garfunkel's fabled "The Sound of Silence" resonates through this vox populi piece.

Who could ask for anything more? If I count right, more than a dozen Curie High School students' voices, some speaking twice, ad lib what is on their minds during the Illinois-State-mandated "Moment of Silence" period at the outset of every day's classes. In the absence of daily readings from the Bible before the Pledge of Allegiance -- which was de rigueur for my generation -- Chi Town's "Moment of Silence" is supposed to fill a spiritual/religious void. Students throughout the Land of Lincoln are supposed to meditate or pray silently every morning before the daily grind of Algebra and Fizz Ed.

The truth is, as this seamless interstitial suggests, students' heads are abuzz with thoughts of munching pizza or taquitos, doing homework in sixth period, or simply going home. The most vocal vox here, a male student who is sort of the Tom Hanks (or Tom Paine) of the piece, is thinking that "our democracy is going downhill and this is starting to turn into a dictatorship to the point where our government is telling us what to do and what not to do." With brilliant editing, the piece gets to the heart of what it means to be an adolescent, however -- and inevitably circles back to "candy and ice cream and food."

Toward the end, one young woman gives thanks to God. She delivers her prayer, though it seems to be deeply felt, in a rushed monotone that ends in a perfectly garbled phrase I haven't for the life of me been able to understand, even after replaying it half a dozen times.

This piece conveys truths that surpass understanding. Listen up, and you shall know the truth that shall make you free of silly misconceptions about young people -- about all people addressing the void in Simon and Garfunkel's fabled words, "Hello darkness, my old friend."