As an American senior in high school, and one with a very informed surgeon for a father, I am always hearing the importance of civic education, or knowledge of the government in my country. One thing that people are continuously proving is: people, specifically younger generations, don’t know enough about their own government. Not just the people that are in charge, but the organization of it all. How ignorant are Americans of their own own government?

While some citizens argue that the United States government system is very complex and riddled with fluctuating officeholders, most people are able to find some understanding through the various news outlets that are now available. People are now able to find a news outlet that suits their preferences, but somehow this is not helping civic knowledge. Compared to 1989, when there were less news outlets, to now, fewer than 69% of people can name the current vice compared to 74% that could name the vice president in 1989. More people are able to identify Arnold Schwarzenegger (nine-in-ten or 93%) then they are to name the speaker of the house (only about half or 49%). So, aside from having new formats of news and information, still only 1 in 4 senior students score at least “proficient” in knowledge of U.S. citizenship. Younger generations just aren’t interested in keeping up with the news and government of their own country.

Another possible cause of the ignorance in America is the lack of knowledge. According to Dalton Conley, an NYU sociologist, “we have a lot of very poor people without access to good education,” and this can lead to insecurity while voting which can have effects on our entire government. Results from a PEW Research Center survey also conclude that “education proves to be the single best predictor of knowledge” that is supported with data that confirms people with postgraduate degrees, on average, answer 17 of 23 answers correctly while those who did not finish high school averaged only about 8 of the 23 correctly. Executive director of the Center for Civic Education, Charles Quigley has even said “attention to civics education in this country has been inadequate for some time.” It would be beneficial to this country to continue to improve the civics education in order to better prepare students for their lives as voting, involved adults that has the potential to impact our country.
It should be time that the younger generations end the era of "American ignorance" and work to improve knowledge of our government. It's time people got more involved and started paying attention to the news and current events. Not only will younger generations lose the title of "ignorant," but they will also be more informed and possibly better prepared to be more secure while making political decisions while voting or signing petitions. It never hurts to be better informed, so why don’t we focus on getting rid of this reputation of “American Amnesia” that younger Americans have.

Works Cited:

News and Information Revolutions. "Public Knowledge of
CurrentAffairs Little Changed." Pew Research Center For the People
and the Press. Pew Research Center, 15 Apr. 2007. Web. 22 Mar. 2013.

Paulson, Amanda. "A Third of High School Seniors Lack Basic Grasp of
Civics, US Government." The Christian Science Monitor. The Christian
Science Monitor, 04 May 2011. Web. 25 Mar. 2013.

Romano, Andrew. "How Dumb Are We?" The Daily Beast. Daily Beast
LLC, 20 Mar. 2011. Web. 22 Mar. 2013.

Staff Writer. "Who's to Blame for America's Ignorance?" The Week. The Week Publications Inc., 22 Mar. 2011. Web. 22 Mar. 2013.

Tapon, Francis. "Defending American Ignorance." WanderLearn. WanderLearn by Francis Tapon, n.d. Web. 22 Mar. 2013.

Williams, Walter. "Young Americans' Ignorance Baffling." Columbia Daily Tribune. Columbia Daily Tribune, 13 July 2011. Web. 22 Mar. 2013.