Richard Dreyfuss argues passionately and convincingly in “One Thought Scares Me…” that a major problem in our educational system is that schools gave up civic education about 50 years ago. I first though the argument was flawed. After all, I think I had a pretty good civic education.
Then I thought about it and said maybe he is right. 50 years ago seemed so far back but then I realized I was in graduate school learning how to be a scientist then. Go back over 60 years and I was a 4th grader learning about the American colonies and why and how they set up a government like none ever seen before: where the people were free and the government instituted to guarantee those freedoms.
Then, as I grew and progressed though the grades, more detail was added. I don’t think I ever had a course called civics or government but the lessons were instilled in a variety of other courses. I think this is the type of education he is talking about.
The full title is “One Thought Scares Me…: We Teach Our Children What We Wish Them to Know; We Don’t Teach Our Children What We Don’t Wish Them to Know”.
It is a good book for our times. It is a reminder that the ultimate power in the United States is us, all of us (“We the people” are the opening words of our Constitution).
But not participating in our republic allows smaller groups to seize that power. And these are most likely to be more interested in themselves By not teaching our children about our country and it’s government (civics), we fail them. By not knowing civics ourselves, we fail ourselves,
A related item is civility. Americans, and especially many politicians, seem to regard those who disagree with them as the enemy. Instead, those who disagree should discuss issues in a more civil manner and perhaps comprise when possible.
I highly recommend this book. You may or may not agree with everything Dreyfuss says but it is well-worth thinking about.