Increased educational focus on civics, history will create engaged citizenry

A study last year by the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation revealed that only 1 in 3 Americans would pass the U.S. citizenship test, which includes such basic questions as why the colonies fought the British during the Revolutionary War. Just 24% of respondents answered that one correctly.

The past several years have taught Americans that we can’t take our democracy for granted. And unfortunately, despite a record turnout of voters last November, the nation got an alarming reminder on Jan. 6 that threats persist.

But there’s one protection we can establish relatively easily. America should ramp up history and civics education in our public schools, and include coursework in media and news literacy in that curriculum.

This idea, which is widely supported among education experts, is one that Nevada educators should run with.

Providing our children with a better grasp of history and how our government works will leave them better prepared to engage constructively with civic processes and help safeguard our freedoms. Survey after survey shows that students who receive enhanced civic/government education tend to get involved in government at a much higher rate than their peers — contacting elected officials, working for political advocacy organizations or candidates, participating in voting drives, etc.

Meanwhile, teaching them best practices for media consumption will make them less susceptible to falling into the misinformation loops that are undermining our system of government and our society.

This is a ripe time to make this change. Young Americans are clearly hungry for this type of education: They have an extraordinary passion for civic engagement, as they showed in their mass participation in Black Lives Matter protests, March For Our Lives demonstrations, voting drives, etc.

Meanwhile, as momentum builds to reopen schools, there’s a prime opportunity to build the education system back better than it was before. One critical need is to address the decades-long overemphasis on math and reading at the expense of other important subjects. An infusion of civics/ government coursework would help broaden our children’s education and leave them better prepared to enter society.

In addition, there’s a glaring need to improve Americans’ basic knowledge in this area. Surveys reveal shocking deficiencies, such as:

▪ 75% of respondents in a 2016 survey by Annenberg Public Policy Center couldn’t name a single branch of government, and only about a third could name any right protected by the First Amendment.

▪ A study last year by the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation revealed that only 1 in 3 Americans would pass the U.S. citizenship test, which includes such basic questions as why the colonies fought the British during the Revolutionary War. Just 24% of respondents answered that one correctly.

That’s merely a sampling of several surveys showing similar results. Worse yet, those surveys reveal that younger people score far more poorly than older Americans, which underscores the need to reinvigorate education in subjects like history, government, etc.

This didn’t happen by accident, unfortunately. Instead it’s part of a decades-long effort to defund education, and it goes well beyond civics curriculum. Arts, humanities and science education has been decimated as well, eroding the classical education that teaches children about different value systems. That multifaceted educational approach, as opposed to one that primarily focuses on reading and math, is the foundation that young people need to become well-rounded, well-informed citizens.

As we work to re-establish strong civics instruction, we should also strive to return the classical educational experience to classrooms.

The good news is that there’s not a complete dearth of this instruction — Nevada provides it in lower grades and also makes it a requirement for high school graduation. But education experts say that in general, the coursework is far from robust compared with the core subjects of math and reading.

It’s easy to see the pitfalls of this. People who don’t understand government and don’t see it as a positive force are more likely to be manipulated by the anti-government elements that are currently at work in the United States. They’re also far more apt to fall for misinformation, since they lack the knowledge base they need to sift out fiction from fact.

The bottom line is that democracy thrives when informed individuals take part in it. As we prepare to send our children back to school, hopefully sooner than later, we should work toward establishing courses that will make them better citizens when they enter adult life.