Statements like this often get people’s attention. It makes them mad and turns away, or it makes them want to learn more. What about you?
On February 22, 2020, an opinion piece entitled "Public schools are teaching our children to hate America" was published in the New York Post. The author makes the case that, because most of America’s students are not learning accurate American history, they grow up with a very skewed view of our country. The article even makes the strong statement that “Today's schools teach only the ugliest parts of US history, turning students off from civic engagement.”
One thing for sure, we have seen a rapid decline in passionate patriotism among many young Americans. There is surely a cause as well as a cure.
As a young student, Thomas Jefferson copied the words of the political philosopher Montesquieu into a journal: “A government is like everything else: to preserve it, we must love it.” He later wrote, “Everything, therefore, depends on establishing this love in a republic and to inspire it ought to be the principal business of education.”
Jefferson then started a campaign in his home state of Virginia to establish an education system to secure the long-term health of America. He reportedly emphasized, “For children aged 6 to 8, the study of American history should be a central focus of the school day. A strong early grounding in history would ensure that these future citizens would cherish and sustain the republic the Founders had won for them.”
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