Every single day of school, students end a familiar recitation with the words “liberty and justice for all.” Germinated from the aching backs of millions of huddled masses, these ideals can be found on any shortlist of what it means to be an American. However, we lose these values when we fail to properly engage with our government. Without adequate education on current events and civics, students are destined to be less able to participate in the government that sustains, upholds and protects our essential freedoms.
At present, many Americans lack a fundamental understanding of the U.S. government. A study from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation discovered that one in three Americans don’t even know how many branches of government there are. In Missouri, at the high school level, students are required to pass a state-mandated civics exam. However, a passing grade can be as low as a 60%, meaning that students can leave high school without actually understanding various vital civics topics. This lack of standards is particularly concerning since students are also given multiple resources during the test. When looking at Ladue, 112 students were surveyed Jan. 22, and less than 10% felt “very confident” in their understanding of the U.S. government.
Therefore, Ladue’s administration should make an effort to improve the education that students receive in the way of civics and current events. This can first be done by integrating more information from current events into coursework. At the moment, few students truly engage with the news in the classroom. Over 75% of students surveyed had teachers that discussed current events only once a week or less, even though 90% of students thought that current events should be discussed more when relevant. While Ladue offers a Current Events class, not every student will have the opportunity or motivation to take it. For that reason, teachers should spend more time focusing on current events in class, so students receive more exposure than present infrastructure allows.
As the National Council for Social Studies explains, discussion of current events boosts media literacy and other relevant skills. These skills have become essential in a society where presidents can utter thousands of false or misleading statements and misinformation online can spread six times faster than the truth, according to PBS. As the world around Ladue evolves, so should our education.
When it comes to government courses, there are multiple ways that Ladue can improve. At the moment, some students who end up taking U.S. Government and Politics in the spring semester of their senior year will have the opportunity to vote prior to receiving any major degree of civic education. Therefore, more emphasis should be placed on civics prior to senior year. Given that voting is what defines the state of our country, students should be educated in who or what they’ll be voting for, why they should be voting, and the like. It’s not just voting though. Knowing how to engage with the political establishment is more important than being able to solve any math problem or annotate any difficult passage –– especially when that establishment dictates the education that students receive… and just about everything else.
All students should have some degree of education on civics so they can be more capable of using their constitutionally ordained voice. As individuals who are likely to be living in this country for the rest of our lives, we deserve a civic education that is as thorough as possible — not one crammed into a semester, or a year in the case of the AP course. Since those as young as 18 have been afforded the opportunity to vote, our school system should aid us as much as possible in making informed decisions when voting. Since we have been afforded the right to various vital freedoms, our school system should help us in understanding how those freedoms can be used.
Education is not an end in itself. The purpose of education is not to simply know enough that a high-paying job becomes attainable. Learning is a process that should shape and build students’ minds so they can actively contribute to society, and understanding our government and the world we live in is a critical part of that.
