Teach children civics and current events

PROBLEM:
A new report from the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI) on the nation's civic literacy finds that most Americans know very little about our government and how it works. Out of 2,500 American quiz-takers nearly 1,800 flunked a 33-question test on basic civics. Only 0.8 percent of all test-takers scored an "A."

This is very disturbing considering we have just had a populist-driven election. In what document do the words "government of the people, by the people, for the people" appear? More than twice as many people (56 percent) knew that Paula Abdul was a judge on "American Idol" than knew that those words come from Lincoln's Gettysburg Address (21 percent). Only 17 percent of college grads understood the difference between free markets and centralized planning.

CAUSE:

Children are not being taught civics anymore. Civics courses, once a staple of junior and high school education, are no longer considered important in our quantitative, leave-no-child-behind world. And college adds little civic knowledge, the ISI study found. The average grade for those holding a bachelor's degree was just 57 percent -- only 13 points higher than the average score of those with only a high school diploma. Forty-three percent didn't know what the Electoral College does. And 46 percent didn't know that the Constitution gives Congress power to declare war.

CAUSE:

The ISI found that passive activities, such as watching television (including TV news) and talking on the phone, diminish civic literacy.

SOLUTION:

Actively pursuing information through print media and participating in high-level conversations makes one smarter. The ISI insists that higher-education reforms aimed at civic literacy are urgently needed. Reform needs to start in high school. Require students to read newspapers, and give college freshman weekly quizzes on current events. Give government subsidies for newspaper subscriptions, as well as federal tuition subsidies for students who perform well on civics tests.

One of the greatest things that ever happened to me and shaped my life was having a man named Lou Solomon be my parents' friend. When I was in high school, he purchased a subscription to Newsweek for me and my siblings and every time he visited he quizzed us on current events. Now at age 44 and the vice-president of a nation-wide franchise system of nanny agenies, I voraciously devour the Washington Post which I have delivered to my home in Florida to learn about the world we live in. I believe that what Lou did created a Phi Beta Kappa 4.0 college student who then went on to have a successful entreprenurial career. Let's give our students today the same opportunity or there is no telling where the future of our country will be.