Kathianne
03-31-2016, 09:12 AM
To why we are where we are. Why folks feel that 'anything' is better than trying to repair. Why we have the choices we'll likely face in November.
For decades now citizens haven't been taught basic civics. For decades before-at least since the 50's, how the system is set up to work, hasn't been taught or understood. We are now reaping what has been sown:
http://www.knoxnews.com/opinion/columnists/george-korda/dont-know-much-about-history-is-sadly-true-for-many-americans-373973051.html
'Don’t know much about history' is, sadly, true for many Americans
...
ay Leno regularly did such a segment when he hosted "The Tonight Show." Probably the best-known current practitioner is Fox News’s Jesse Watters of "Watters World."
They really are funny segments. And depressing. There’s a problem when American citizens are asked such questions as who was the first president of the United States, who won the Civil War, or are asked to describe ISIS; and the answers come back along the lines of Abraham Roosevelt, the French, and a British rock group.
Americans’ obliviousness of their governmental institutions and their country’s past runs deep, as illustrated by a survey conducted by the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. It was unveiled in Sept. 2014 with a news release titled "Americans know surprisingly little about their government, survey finds."
"The survey of 1,416 adults, released for Constitution Day (Sept. 17) in conjunction with the launch of the Civics Renewal Network, found that:
*"While little more than a third of respondents (36 percent) could name all three branches of the U.S. government, just as many (35 percent) could not name a single one.
*"Just over a quarter of Americans (27 percent) know it takes a two-thirds vote of the House and Senate to override a presidential veto.
*"One in five Americans (21 percent) incorrectly thinks that a 5-4 Supreme Court decision is sent back to Congress for reconsideration."
In 2000, the American Council of Trustees and Alumni found that seniors from America’s colleges and universities were graduating with, "alarming ignorance of their heritage and a profound historical illiteracy…four out of five—81%—of seniors recently surveyed from the top 55 colleges and universities in the United States received a grade of D or F on history questions drawn from a basic high school curriculum…Seniors could not identify Valley Forge, words from the Gettysburg Address, or even the basic principles of the U.S. Constitution."
The 2014 National Association of Educational Assessment also revealed unhappy results. Only 18 percent of eighth grade students scored "proficient" in U.S. history, as reported in April 29, 2015’s U.S. News & World Report.
It’s not necessary to go just by statistics and articles. Ask a middle or high school student you know a series of basic U.S. history questions. Do they know what the three branches of government? Can they name the vice president? Can they identify the countries the U.S. fought in World War II; what the Emancipation Proclamation accomplished; what was the Cold War, or much of anything else about U.S. history? (Note, the above example are only 'basic' facts that should be known, in and of themselves doesn't demonstrate the base of knowledge of the facts to the actual content necessary.)
...
When an American knows little or nothing about how, when, or why the United States was founded, its governing principles and institutions, and what has been sacrificed to preserve them, the chances are slim of that person having a deep concern about the continuation of those institutions. Why would the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights matter to someone who doesn’t know what they are?
Furthermore, people with political agendas and motives can, perhaps for better, but likely for worse, take advantage of such ignorance.
That’s why it matters. And, unfortunately, unlike a comedy show segment, it’s not funny.
For decades now citizens haven't been taught basic civics. For decades before-at least since the 50's, how the system is set up to work, hasn't been taught or understood. We are now reaping what has been sown:
http://www.knoxnews.com/opinion/columnists/george-korda/dont-know-much-about-history-is-sadly-true-for-many-americans-373973051.html
'Don’t know much about history' is, sadly, true for many Americans
...
ay Leno regularly did such a segment when he hosted "The Tonight Show." Probably the best-known current practitioner is Fox News’s Jesse Watters of "Watters World."
They really are funny segments. And depressing. There’s a problem when American citizens are asked such questions as who was the first president of the United States, who won the Civil War, or are asked to describe ISIS; and the answers come back along the lines of Abraham Roosevelt, the French, and a British rock group.
Americans’ obliviousness of their governmental institutions and their country’s past runs deep, as illustrated by a survey conducted by the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. It was unveiled in Sept. 2014 with a news release titled "Americans know surprisingly little about their government, survey finds."
"The survey of 1,416 adults, released for Constitution Day (Sept. 17) in conjunction with the launch of the Civics Renewal Network, found that:
*"While little more than a third of respondents (36 percent) could name all three branches of the U.S. government, just as many (35 percent) could not name a single one.
*"Just over a quarter of Americans (27 percent) know it takes a two-thirds vote of the House and Senate to override a presidential veto.
*"One in five Americans (21 percent) incorrectly thinks that a 5-4 Supreme Court decision is sent back to Congress for reconsideration."
In 2000, the American Council of Trustees and Alumni found that seniors from America’s colleges and universities were graduating with, "alarming ignorance of their heritage and a profound historical illiteracy…four out of five—81%—of seniors recently surveyed from the top 55 colleges and universities in the United States received a grade of D or F on history questions drawn from a basic high school curriculum…Seniors could not identify Valley Forge, words from the Gettysburg Address, or even the basic principles of the U.S. Constitution."
The 2014 National Association of Educational Assessment also revealed unhappy results. Only 18 percent of eighth grade students scored "proficient" in U.S. history, as reported in April 29, 2015’s U.S. News & World Report.
It’s not necessary to go just by statistics and articles. Ask a middle or high school student you know a series of basic U.S. history questions. Do they know what the three branches of government? Can they name the vice president? Can they identify the countries the U.S. fought in World War II; what the Emancipation Proclamation accomplished; what was the Cold War, or much of anything else about U.S. history? (Note, the above example are only 'basic' facts that should be known, in and of themselves doesn't demonstrate the base of knowledge of the facts to the actual content necessary.)
...
When an American knows little or nothing about how, when, or why the United States was founded, its governing principles and institutions, and what has been sacrificed to preserve them, the chances are slim of that person having a deep concern about the continuation of those institutions. Why would the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights matter to someone who doesn’t know what they are?
Furthermore, people with political agendas and motives can, perhaps for better, but likely for worse, take advantage of such ignorance.
That’s why it matters. And, unfortunately, unlike a comedy show segment, it’s not funny.