REPRINTED FROM BFINFOSYSTEMS.COM
Several months ago, it occurred to me that as a country we might be losing our knowledge of history. We’re always hearing about “man or woman in the street” surveys where the respondents are unable to identify American allies in World War I and II. Or that many American high schools students can’t identify in which decade the American Civil War was. How about who the Americans rebelled against in 1775?
Well, here’s some disheartening facts about American teen’s knowledge of history. One in five teens have no idea who America’s enemy was in World War II. More than 25% believe that Columbus embarked on his journey of discovery after 1750 (He actually left Spain in 1492.). Meanwhile, half don’t know what Senator Joseph McCarthy was investigating or what the Renaissance was. Only 43 percent of students surveyed knew that the Civil War was fought “between 1850 and 1900.
Those are some disturbing results from a telephone survey of 1,200 U.S. teens that became the basis for a report called “Still at Risk: What Students Don’t Know, Even Now.” from Common Core, a new advocacy group for liberal arts education. READ MORE
