by Chris Mcleod

Created on: September 06, 2009   Last Updated: September 10, 2009

Most teens graduate high school without being able to name a US Senator from their home state. Try asking an 18-year-old, fresh out of high school, why William Penn is a significant figure in US history. There are many reasons that most teens do not know basic level history, even as high school graduates. One of the reasons is the emphasis placed on testing rather than critical thinking.

Another reason is that textbooks do not always teach facts. School curriculums are full of exaggerations and even outright lies. Many would be shocked to find out (even as working adults) that the Indians really did not sit down with the Pilgrims for a big turkey feast - hence the reason we eat turkey on Thanksgiving. Yes, it is true that the Wampanoag Indians and the Pilgrims had a feast together, but other than that not much is known about what they ate (it's unlikely they would have had roasted turkey). No, George Washington did not really chop down that cherry tree (sorry to burst your bubble, guys!). And we're only talking about American history here, I do not even want to get into how little most Americans know about world history.

The problem of history education has more to do with the fact that most classes in secondary schools talk about the Vietnam War for one day or so, when the Vietnam War was one of the most significant events in US history - than it does with the fact that most students are completely bored by history. We should be shedding more light on the tragic parts of American history (such as the Trail of Tears) rather than trying to build a false positive view of our country.

We can learn more as a society when we have the ability to acknowledge and learn from our mistakes. Every day we ask our youth to understand why something they have done is "wrong." We do this so they can learn from it and have a less likelihood of repeating the same mistakes. The same goes with us as a society. Maybe if we teach our youth more about some of the mistakes our country has made, rather than sugarcoating them, future generations may be less likely to repeat some of them.

There are a lot of things we can do to contribute to the improvement of history education, and education as a whole. One of the things we need to do is start making our youth use critical thinkin, rather than just memorization. We need to focus not only on the great things our country has done, but also the tragedies that have unfolded in our short life as a nation. We cannot just pump them with facts; our children need to understand WHY it is important that they learn and know real, unbiased history.

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