One day a father sat down with his teenaged son. "Johnny, tomorrow you start school. You know, now that we've moved from a small town to this big city, things are going to be different. Everyone knew each other where we lived before but that's not the case here. You are going to find that in that high school there are groups, cliques, and there might even be gangs. You are going to have make friends but be careful not to get on any group's bad side. If something happens and you are asked what occurred or what you saw, the best thing to do is to say you were not involved, did not see or hear anything, and don't know anything about it."
Johnny promised to remember his Dad's warning and it was only a few weeks before he had an occasion to do so.
One day in History class the teacher said, "We are going to be getting into 20th Century history this year and I'd like to find out how much you students already know about events that occured in your or your parents and grandparents lifetimes." She began asking questions of specific members of the class.
She called on Johnny. "Johnny, who shot Ronald Reagan?"
Johnny at once recalled his father's advice. "I don't know. I was not there. I did not see anything. I didn't hear anything. I don't know anything about it."
The teacher replied, "Oh, I don't like that smartass answer, young man! You are going to see the principle, right now!"
The principle asked Johnny the same question and he gave the same answer. "'Okay, young man, if that is your attitude I think you'd better go home for the day. I am calling your parents."
His father picked Johnny up in front of the school and asked what happened. Johnny told him and added, "And I did not even know there was any kid named Ronald Reagan in our school or that he had been shot."
His father shook his head and finally said, "Good going son! You did the right thing! You know, I never told you this, but when I was your age they sat me down and grilled me about what happened to some kid named Kennedy."