The topic of discussion for this
Freedom Friday is the importance of being informed citizens. In order for any
nation to be strong, the citizens must know the history and laws of said
nation. This knowledge is so important to a strong nation that the U.S.
requires all applicants for citizenship to pass a citizenship exam.
An officer from the U.S. Citizenship
and Immigration Services (USCIS) asks an applicant up to ten civics and
government questions out of a possible one hundred questions. The applicant
must correctly answer at least 60 percent of the questions asked. This site has the 100 questions with answers.
Jesse Watters, Fox News host of “Watters’ World,” recently aired a video about citizenship. He went to
Arizona State University and asked some students a few of the questions on the
citizenship exam. The students did not do well.
The fact that the students did not
do well does not me. High school students are no longer required to take a
civics class in order to obtain a diploma, and some universities no longer
require the class. In other words, the rising generation is no longer being
taught about the Constitution and laws of the United States.
If students are not required to gain
civics knowledge in school or university, most of them will not study it. This
means that U.S. citizens are being “dumbed down” in regards to knowledge about
the Constitution and government. Yet, they can still run for office and exercise
their right to vote. This is why we have so many uninformed members of
Congress: the uninformed voter elects an uninformed representative. If we want
more and better informed representatives, then we must become better informed
citizens.
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