America’s grasp of civics is embarrassing, and the country is at risk because of it
Veteran talk show host Jay Leno has aired some classic segments in which he’d ask random people questions you would think they’d know, but these citizens are, in fact, clueless. During a typical “Jay Walking” Q&A, he’d pose questions like: “What are the three branches of government?” Or, “What is the Bill of Rights?” Or, “What does ‘Take the Fifth’ mean?” Amazingly, so many people are ignorant of these basic things. It’s worth noting that according to several inside sources, the ignorant people Leno chats up are very easy to find.
The segment is always humorous, but when the laughing stops, you realize that a profound number of Americans are just plain ignorant when it comes to history and civics, and it starts with the young. In fact, the results of the most recent NAEP U.S. history and civics test, taken in 2022, showed that just 13% of eighth graders met proficiency standards for U.S. history, meaning they could “explain major themes, periods, events, people, ideas and turning points in the country’s history.” Additionally, only about 20% of students scored at or above the proficient level in civics. Both scores represent all-time lows on these two tests.
The multiple choice questions on the NAEP are very basic, such as, “Which of the following reasons best explains why many people supported the Eighteenth Amendment, which banned the sale of alcohol?” Another asks, “What were European explorers such as Henry Hudson looking for when they sailed the coast and rivers of North America in the 1600s?”