No Free Press means No Democratic Society
This is a universal. It is something that should be etched into the brains of every American.
The insanity of allowing civics and social studies to be cut from public education is coming home to roost in Soooo many ways. This is just one more.
Why Teaching Civics in America's Classrooms Must Be a Trump-Era Priority
The testing craze and resegregation stripped schools of a key mission: creating engaged citizens.
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/02/civics-education-trump-bullying
Extreme views can be socially contagious, especially among young people, who are more susceptible than adults to being influenced by their peers.
...American public schools, which were founded to maintain a pluralistic democracy and protect citizens against the tyranny of the majority. Advocates for the public education system argued that the unique American experiment wouldn't work without it—that schools were the most effective mechanism for instilling civic values such as abandoning unrestrained self-interest and opposing bigotry.
Until the late '60s, three different courses in civic studies were common in American high schools, and they often focused on helping students apply the dry mechanics of government to solving problems in their own communities. Many social studies classes also aimed to highlight the fragility of the democratic process and the historic importance of civic engagement....
But all that changed most notably in the 1980s, when, in addition to earlier cuts in civic studies, policymakers began shifting the focus from social studies toward easily testable subjects like math and reading....
In 2011, all federal funding for civics and social studies was eliminated...
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http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/02/civics-education-trump-bullying
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