Our civic ignorance: A stunning failure to educate

Our civic ignorance: A stunning failure to educate


Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2007

Not only do American high schools fail to educate students about U.S. history and civics, but by the time many students finish college they know even less. That's the conclusion of "the largest statistically valid survey ever conducted to determine what colleges and universities are teaching their students about America's history and institutions."

That study, conducted for the Intercollegiate Studies Institute by the University of Connecticut's Department of Public Policy, surveyed 14,094 college freshmen and seniors at 50 U.S. colleges and universities from Massachusetts to California. It found a stunning ignorance. Seniors scored an average of 53.2 on the 60-question civics test. That's a big, fat F.

More than half of college seniors could not identify the correct century in which the Jamestown colony was founded or name the battle that ended the American Revolution. Truly frightening, more than half also did not know that the Bill of Rights forbids the federal government from establishing a national religion.

These are college seniors. Among the institutions whose students were surveyed: Dartmouth, Yale, Harvard, the University of California at Berkeley, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the University of Michigan.

It should go without saying that in a republic, civic education is a fundamental necessity. If even our elite college graduates have no idea what the First Amendment does, the country is in trouble.

Concerned parents ought to pressure their children's institutions to require more history and civics courses. Legislators should insist that public colleges do so.

Last year the state required that civics be taught in public high schools. Legislators should look into setting similar standards for the state's public institutions of higher education. UNH requires only one course in "historical perspectives," one in "social science" and one in "philosophy, literature, and ideas." Legislators should let them know that such neglect of students' civic education is unacceptable for a publicly subsidized university.

Woody Guthrie was fond of telling the story of a fellow who was out walking one day

Woody Guthrie was fond of telling the story of a fellow who was out walking one day. Now this person was of the sort that some might call a hobo or perhaps a bum but whom I shall call a free spirit. Now as this free spirit was walking he found a fence blocking his progress and a large sign that said "PRIVATE PROPERTY - No trespassing." But being a free spirit he ignored the sign, hopped the fence and proceeded on his way. After a while another fellow approached him at rather a fast clip displaying signs of extreme agitation. "Didn't you see that sign" he demanded. "This here is private property and there's NO TRESPASSING." "So you're saying you own this land" inquired the free spirit. "Damn right" replied the other. "Well how did you get to own it?" said the free spirit.