Just days ago, we marked the 224th anniversary of the signing of our United States Constitution. Teachers across the country maybe spent some time ? but likely not a lot ? talking about the birth of our great nation and the principles upon which it was founded.
Why has the study of civics and American history become a second- or third-tier part of curriculum for our elementary and high school kids? Why do we put such little emphasis on the importance of knowing how our country evolved, how it met (or in some cases failed to meet) challenges or what ? even with our faults ? makes us an exceptional nation?
Continue ReadingGiven the miserable condition of civil discourse in our public policy arenas, is this inattention to civics and history acceptable?
According to a just-released report, titled the ?Guardian of Democracy: The Civic Mission of Schools,? the answer to that last question is a resounding ?No!? We take pride in being the ?world?s oldest democracy,? and yet we fail to teach our students the basics of how our government operates and how to become engaged citizens.
?Tonight Show? host Jay Leno is funny when he exposes ignorance on his ?Jay Walking? skits, but it is no laughing matter when only a third of Americans can name the three branches of government and when one-third of our citizens cannot name a single branch of government. Fewer than one in five high schools seniors can explain how citizen participation benefits democracy. And fewer than one in five eighth-graders can identify the historical purpose of the Declaration of Independence.
That is not comedy; it is tragedy.
Educating our kids about civic duty begins at home, with responsible adults who take the time, themselves, to be engaged citizens and to pass that discipline on to the next generation. But it is also essential to pursue that goal in the classroom and to incorporate it in academic subjects, beginning in kindergarten and the primary grades and continuing throughout high school and college. John Adams had it exactly correct when he said, in 1765, ?Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people, who have a right ? and a desire to know.? We have made it harder and harder for citizens to acquire the knowledge they need to exercise this right.
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