Informed Citizens

            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.