Damn few. Most of them can't tell the difference between the Revolution and World War II, and think Columbus (assuming they've heard his name) discovered the New World in 1942.
Damn few. Most of them can't tell the difference between the Revolution and World War II, and think Columbus (assuming they've heard his name) discovered the New World in 1942.
the first time I worked in a high school, it was 1986 and I shared my office "suite" with the school nurse and a health resources counselor who, it turned out, grew up about half a mile from where I grew up. during the change of classes, we'd randomly ask passing students if they knew what major historical event took place between 1861 and 1865 and who the "bad guys" were in WWII. most of them didn't know the first one and the most frequent answer to the second question was "I dunno...maybe RUSSIA?"
that was when I began to gather evidence that there was nothing accidental about this "knowledge gap."
and whether or not a bunch of bigwigs got together and planned to eliminate any basic knowledge of how the government is supposed to work in so many words is irrelevant. just look at where we're at.
Damn few. Most of them can't tell the difference between the Revolution and World War II, and think Columbus (assuming they've heard his name) discovered the New World in 1942.
the first time I worked in a high school, it was 1986 and I shared my office "suite" with the school nurse and a health resources counselor who, it turned out, grew up about half a mile from where I grew up. during the change of classes, we'd randomly ask passing students if they knew what major historical event took place between 1861 and 1865 and who the "bad guys" were in WWII. most of them didn't know the first one and the most frequent answer to the second question was "I dunno...maybe RUSSIA?"
that was when I began to gather evidence that there was nothing accidental about this "knowledge gap."
and whether or not a bunch of bigwigs got together and planned to eliminate any basic knowledge of how the government is supposed to work in so many words is irrelevant. just look at where we're at.