USA 2024 Elections Thread

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Younger Parents Say Their Kids Are Indifferent To The American Flag

https://www.realclearwire.com/articles/2022/12/27/younger_parents_say_their_kids_are_indifferent_to_the_flag_110804.html

A new survey suggests that younger parents don't share the same values
or priorities for civics education as their older peers. According to
the survey, conducted by RealClear Opinion Research and funded by the
conservative Jack Miller Center, nearly nine out of ten Americans
agree that teaching children about our nation’s founding principles is
“very important.” But seven out of ten don’t think schools are doing a
good job of it.

The survey was conducted in November and included responses from more
than one thousand likely voters on topics related to education, civics
instruction, and the American founding. As first reported by my
colleague, RealClearPolitics reporter Phil Wegmann, their answers
revealed that both Republicans and Democrats value civics education.
Contrary to how it’s often portrayed in the news cycle, civics
education is not merely a concern on the right.

Still, there were some partisan differences. Democrats demonstrated
more confidence in the public school system to deliver what kids need
to know about the American founding, while Republicans were more
likely to see private schooling or homeschooling as the best way to do
the job. Republicans were also more likely to say that they believe
schools are promoting a biased political agenda, and that their
children were not free to express their ideas at school.

But the most striking differences weren’t partisan. Instead, they
emerged when comparing the responses of young parents to those of
older parents.

To the question, “What emotion do you believe your children feel when
they see the American flag?” most parents responded positively.
“Pride” and “gratitude” together made up more than 63% of the
responses, compared to 5.8% who said their children felt “shame” or
“disgust” when they see the flag.

About 30% overall said their children felt “indifference” when they
saw the flag. But when you consider younger parents as a group that
number was much higher. 52.6% of parents aged 18-24 said their
children felt indifference to the flag. For parents aged 25-34, that
number is 41.6%.

Let’s call it the civics education age gap. And while the survey asks
parents specifically what their kids think about the flag, data from
additional questions on the survey suggest that younger parents may
share some of that indifference about America in general.

On the question of how to portray the flawed figures of America’s
founding, overall, 92.5% of respondents said public schools should
“portray historical figures honestly with the understanding that we
can teach a person’s achievements even if their views do not alight
with values of today.” Only 7.5% of all respondents believe that “if
the views of historical figures do not align with the values of today,
we should minimize or avoid teaching about their historical
achievements.” On this question, the responses of young parents aged
18-24 differed only slightly from the average parent—9.8% of them
believe we should minimize the achievements of problematic historical
figures, or even avoid teaching about them altogether. For parents
aged 35-34, that number was 8%.

The context for this survey is, of course, our culture’s ongoing
debate over how to teach kids about the impact of racism and slavery
on our country, and what those things mean about our national
identity. The disagreement could be boiled down to the question, “Is
America Good?” Thomas Jefferson is a prime example. He was a racist
slave owner who nevertheless expressed ideas that gave birth to a new
kind of political freedom, and whose words, “We hold these truths to
be self-evident that all men are created equal” would one day be
uttered by Martin Luther King in defense of civil rights for those
slaves’ descendants.

At a recent event in Washington, D.C. where the results of the survey
were discussed, education and civil rights activist Bob Woodsen spoke
of the importance of allowing for “redemption” when we consider our
flawed founding fathers and our national identity. Hans Zeiger,
president of the Jack Miller Center, put it this way, “We can be
honest about our history without being romantic about it.”

 When asked which aspects of civics education should have priority,
over 70% of parents said the focus should be “teaching students the
principles underlying American politics, such as the history and ideas
behind the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution.” On the
other hand, nearly 23% said the priority should be “teaching students
how to actively promote change in government.” Among parents aged
18-24, that number was nearly 55%.

The vast majority of Americans today agree that civics education is
important, and that civics education should include an honest
assessment of our nation’s flaws and our flawed founding fathers. But
younger parents seem to embrace a more pessimistic view of our nation
and a more activist vision of the civics classroom. If these
differences were to endure as younger parents age, one wonders what
the civics age gap portends. One wonders what it will mean for our
nation if younger parents, and their children, allow no place for
redemption.