Is free speech just for nice speech? Students (and adults) need to know civics

Tim Walz, a former social studies teacher who hopes to be vice president, said, “There’s no guarantee to free speech on misinformation or hate speech, and especially around our democracy."

Hillary Clinton, who'd hoped to be president, said Americans who spread "misinformation" should face criminal prosecution.

Credit: Norman Rockwell

Twenty-eight percent of Democrats think it's too bad Donald Trump has survived two assassination attempts. That's the logic of the would-be assassin: He's a threat to democracy, so kill him before he can win the election.

Less than half of Americans can name most of the rights protected under the First Amendment, according to a May survey by Penn's Annenberg Public Policy Center. Freedom of speech -- which includes speech that some might consider misinformation or hate speech -- is the best known at 74 percent; freedom of religion is second at 39 percent.

Schools need to get back to teaching civics, argues the Sandra Day O'Connor Institute for American Democracy in a new report.

Beginning in the 1960s, as "the Vietnam War and then the Watergate scandal eroded the public’s faith in government," schools moved away from civics education as a way to assimilate a "nation of immigrants" to a common culture, the report says. Critics saw civic education "as a form of cultural imperialism" that ignored students' diversity.

In a 2022 RAND survey, only 23 percent of teachers agreed that one of the top three aims of civic education is “promoting knowledge of social, political, and civic institutions,” and 40 percent said a top-three aim was “promoting knowledge of citizens’ rights and responsibilities.” Two-thirds hoped to encourage "critical and independent thinking." But about what?

Promoting environmental activism was a priority for the teachers, wrote Rick Hess, a former civics teacher, and R.J. Martin in Time. "It’s hard to imagine that teachers who are more concerned about environmental activism than civic institutions when they’re asked about civics education are inclined to help students critique the Green New Deal."

Eighth-graders' knowledge of history and civics has fallen to new lows on the National Assessment of Educational Progress.

The good news is that there are models of strong civics and U.S. history standards, says the O'Connor Institute. In addition, the report recommends the Advanced Placement U.S. Government and Politics course as a "nonpartisan introduction to key political concepts, ideas, institutions, policies, interactions, roles, and behaviors that characterize the constitutional system and political culture of the United States.”

The institute offers Civics for Life community, Civics 101 Micro-lessons for lifelong learners, and programs for middle and high school students.

Teaching Our Students What It Means to Be an American should be a priority, says the

Progressive Policy Institute.

"Schools should teach an honest and hopeful account of American history, which frankly recounts America’s sins but also the ways in which liberal democratic norms made redemption possible," the report urges.

It also calls for "reinventing" Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), and Ethnic Studies programs "to remove grossly inaccurate and insulting race essentialist thinking."

"Schools and colleges should do a better job of teaching students the art of civil discourse," the report adds.

The conservative American Council of Trustees and Alumni has named a National Commission on American History and Civic Education to "analyze the crisis of historical and civic illiteracy" and provide guidance on a "foundation course in U.S. history and government."