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Original Content at https://www.opednews.com/articles/Altenative-Citizenship-Tes-by-Skip-Mendler-American-History_Awareness_Citizenship_Citizenship-Test-150228-938.html (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). |
February 28, 2015
Alternative Citizenship Test
By Skip Mendler
Arizona will soon require high school students to pass a civics exam in order to graduate. Here are a few questions that they might not include.
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It's not often you'll hear me approving of news out of Arizona. The state that gave us Evan Meacham and Sheriff Joe Arpaio is not one I usually think of as a birthplace for interesting ideas. But they've recently introduced a new requirement: To graduate from high school, all students must pass a civics test similar to the one given those seeking naturalized citizenship.At first glance, I like the concept very much. Americans' general ignorance of the way their system works is legendary and anything that encourages greater civic awareness is a good thing in my book.
The body of knowledge involved - 100 questions on the basic structure of the federal government, some highlights of American history, and a smattering of geographical facts - is neither extensive nor particularly controversial. (You can obtain study materials, including a complete list of questions and answers, via this website.)
That's fine as far as it goes. But I think it overlooks a few things that are important for anyone entering into responsible adulthood, not to mention citizenhood, here in 21st Century America to know and understand.
I believe that folks should be aware of how things really work in government - as opposed to how they are ostensibly designed to work. They should also be familiar with some of those inconvenient little tidbits from history that may not show us in our best light, but have had a drastic impact on the way we are today.
So, here are a few of the many questions that might be included in an "Alternative Citizenship Test""
So how did you do? (If you could answer 2/3 of these without doing some research, congratulate yourself!) You could probably come up with some suitable questions yourself and I encourage you to share your questions and comments below. I'd be particularly interested to see what folks more conservative than I am would include.