this post was submitted on 16 Sep 2024
167 points (98.3% liked)

News

23407 readers
5416 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil


Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban. Do not respond to rule-breaking content; report it and move on.


2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.


Obvious right or left wing sources will be removed at the mods discretion. We have an actively updated blocklist, which you can see here: https://lemmy.world/post/2246130 if you feel like any website is missing, contact the mods. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted seperately but not to the post body.


3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.


Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.


4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source.


Posts which titles don’t match the source won’t be removed, but the autoMod will notify you, and if your title misrepresents the original article, the post will be deleted. If the site changed their headline, the bot might still contact you, just ignore it, we won’t delete your post.


5. Only recent news is allowed.


Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.


6. All posts must be news articles.


No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials or celebrity gossip is allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis.


7. No duplicate posts.


If a source you used was already posted by someone else, the autoMod will leave a message. Please remove your post if the autoMod is correct. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.


8. Misinformation is prohibited.


Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.


9. No link shorteners.


The auto mod will contact you if a link shortener is detected, please delete your post if they are right.


10. Don't copy entire article in your post body


For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

On the first day of his American National Government class, Prof. Kevin Dopf asks how many of his students are United States citizens. Every hand shoots up.

“So, how did all you people become citizens?” he asks. “Did you pass a test?”

“No,” one young woman says tentatively. “We were born here.”

It’s a good thing. Based on his years of making his students at the University of South Carolina Beaufort take the test given to immigrants seeking U.S. citizenship, most would be rejected.

Most states require some sort of high school civics instruction. But with surveys showing that a third of American adults can’t name the three branches of the federal government, and one in which 10% of college graduates think Judith Sheindlin – TV’s “Judge Judy” – serves on the U.S. Supreme Court, many think we should be aiming higher.

all 36 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 40 points 2 months ago (9 children)

Here's an AP citizenship quiz, if you want to test your knowledge.

https://apnews.com/projects/us-civics-quiz/

[–] [email protected] 15 points 2 months ago

I'm surprised I got 80%. I thought I'd fail for sure. Granted, the real test isn't multiple choice, at least according to the blurb at the end of the quiz. I'm sure I'd do horribly on the real thing, but that's why people study for it ahead of time.

[–] son_named_bort 15 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I got them all right, including the number of Representatives, which is something that Jill Stein (who is actually running for president) didn't know.

[–] [email protected] -2 points 2 months ago (1 children)
  1. But I knew that because I read about her dumbass answer. But I thought it was 140 before, so I was still more correct than her and I’m not even running for president.

I’m now announcing my candidacy. Vote some_guy.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Um... There are 435 members of the US House of Representatives.

If you include the 100 Senators, there are 535 "representatives" in the US.

145 is not the answer to anything.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

Whoops, I fucked that up. I meant to type 410. I dunno how I biffed that so badly.

[–] Diplomjodler3 13 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I only got 50%, phew. Guess I won't have to move to the US any time soon.

[–] PugJesus 7 points 2 months ago

Imagine if knowing about US civics ended with people getting conscripted as immigrants.

"NO, PLEASE, NOT AMERICA"

"WE NEED YOUR CIVIC KNOWLEDGE"

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 months ago

I'd have got 100%, but I misread the date on the first one.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago (1 children)

6/10. Not bad for never having taken a US civics course.

Miffed I missed the Bill o'Rights one. As ever, need to slow down and read the question better.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Was it the one about how many amendments are in the bill of rights? I picked 20 since I know we have close to that (but apparently 11+ aren't considered part of the BoR?).

[–] JWBananas 3 points 2 months ago

The Bill of Rights (amendments 1-10) specifically addressed debate over ratification of the Constitution.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Bill_of_Rights

[–] FireTower 1 points 2 months ago

BoR are the first 10/27 amendments. They were all ratified in 1791. Federalists thought that the structural elements laid out in the main document would protect people's rights but Antifederalists insisted on codifying specific rights and the BoR was a promise to get more people on board with the idea of the Constitution.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I got 9/10. Maybe I could migrate to the US.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago

Maybe wait until November before you make a decision

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 months ago

Woo! Got a 100!

[–] jordanlund 1 points 2 months ago

10/10 and most cases didn't even need to see the choices.

E. Pleb Nista!

https://youtu.be/3bYkNptOJns#t=50s

[–] FlyingSquid -2 points 2 months ago (2 children)

The AP citizenship quiz shouldn't be AP, it should be a requirement to graduate.

[–] BrokenGlepnir 19 points 2 months ago (2 children)

I think ap doesn't mean advanced placement, but associated press. Or I got whooshed.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago (1 children)

It is the Associated Press. Damn, I should have clarified that. My bad.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago

One would think the apnews.com link and Associated Press site would be a good indicator.

[–] FlyingSquid 4 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Oops. I stand by my general statement. Passing a civics quiz should be required to graduate high school.

[–] Soulfulginger 9 points 2 months ago (1 children)

US history and US govt are required courses in most high schools. The information they teach is generally what would be on the citizenship test

[–] FlyingSquid 1 points 2 months ago

Yes. And other standardized test subjects are taught in classes.

[–] dhork 7 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Most states (perhaps all of them?) require at least a year of US history to get a HS diploma. They do not guarantee the students retain the knowledge after passing the class, of course.

[–] FlyingSquid 5 points 2 months ago

A year of U.S. history and a civics class are in no way the same.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I agree civics is immensely important, but I think we might have bigger issues in our education system.

https://www.thenationalliteracyinstitute.com/post/literacy-statistics-2024-2025-where-we-are-now

[–] FlyingSquid 5 points 2 months ago

I realize there are other problems like literacy, but it's not like we can't do both work on literacy and civics.

[–] UnpopularCrow 28 points 2 months ago (1 children)

This is exactly what the republicans strive for. thelessyouknow

[–] FireTower 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Last year, North Carolina Republicans introduced the REACH Act, an acronym for “Reclaiming College Education on America’s Constitutional Heritage.” The bill required undergraduates to take at least three credit hours in American government and read a series of major U.S. history documents, from the Declaration of Independence to Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1963 “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” They would also have to pass a final exam worth 20% of the final grade.

Per the article

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

That's cool and all, but these people do know the government controls k-12 public schools right?

Kids should know this shit long before college... And what about everyone who doesn't go to college? They should just go fuck themselves I guess?

Teach this shit in middle school/high school.

[–] Telodzrum 13 points 2 months ago

Not shocking, the level of understanding the average person on here has on the topic of civics is downright depressing.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 months ago

We're on the brink of another Trump term --Justice Judy may well happen in the next year or two...

[–] son_named_bort 5 points 2 months ago

Don't give Trump any ideas.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago

2 out of 10, but then I'm a Brit so I'm chuffed I got any!