What does Fortas mean when he states “if we are not to . . . teach youth to discount important principles of our government as mere platitudes”?

Fortas is warning that denying students their rights could make them see the government’s stated principles as empty words rather than values worth believing in. “Platitudes” means statements that sound important but are treated as meaningless. So the best choice is that students who are denied their rights may not believe in the values of government.

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