What Should Every American Know About Their Government — and Why Don’t They?

[Moderator]

Civics education in the U.S. has been gutted over decades. Meanwhile, book bans and curriculum fights are reshaping what kids learn about history, identity, and democracy. What’s one thing you wish every American understood — and where did you learn it? What do we owe the next generation when it comes to civic knowledge?

[Greg Reed]

I think its been very evident that people do not understand some very basics Civics. Either they have forgotten because they just have not used the information in the years since High School, or they just aren’t paying attention to what is happening to our government. And so many people I know are getting their information from social media. I have friends who have formed political beliefs based on TikTok reels and Instagram memes! Or worse, they are completely clocked out… they don’t follow the news, they honestly have no idea what’s really happening to our country!

[Sarah]

I think this has been a long term strategy of the right, to defund education in general, but civics in particular. An uninformed citizenry will not push back. That combined with false information prevalent on social media has created a very real gap in civics knowledge that has affected our country negatively. People don’t know what they don’t know and they believe the wildest propaganda… because they don’t know.

[Author]

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