America's civics crisis means too many students don't even know the Declaration of Independence

 

May 5, 2023

If civics is the what of American political life, history is the why

Only 60 percent of American 8th graders have a basic understanding of U.S. history, according to the new Nation’s Report Card scores recently released, and only 13 percent of them are proficient in the subject. Roughly three in every ten of them lack a basic understanding of civics.

In context, this means that much of the rising generation likely doesn’t know who wrote the Declaration of Independence or why the Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution. They cannot tell you the reasons each side fought the Civil War or in which war the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. They don’t know about Congressional veto power or how the Electoral College works. (All of these examples are pulled from sample Nation’s Report Card questions.)

These students, who are now high school freshmen, are four years away from being voters; maybe less if certain politicians succeed in lowering the voting age. We face the very real possibility of our future presidents and members of Congress being elected by people who have no idea what those jobs entail.

These students deserve to participate in the civic life of this country, but they are being robbed of the tools that would let them do so in a constructive way. The problems extend beyond the ballot box: Our entire political discourse, both in the news media and in our own neighborhoods, will be swayed by people with no understanding of the American system of governance.

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