In case this is the first you've heard, the proposed revised social studies curriculum called for teaching U.S. history in high school from 1877 onward, relying on elementary and middle school classes to fill in the birth of our nation. So basically, we would be sending 18-year-old adults into the world with a child's knowledge of how we got here, how we took over, how we beat the British, how we enslaved people for generations and how we fought the Civil War. Basically, how we became the United States of America. I'm all for going in-depth, which was the state's reasoning for the late timeline start for high school class. But first you need a foundation. Anyway, the state decided it wouldn't go forward with that plan. A revised plan will be out in April.
Our country is just a kid compared to the long history of other nations. We're not talking a thousand-year history here. I graduated from high school in a top-ranked school district in the country (Fairfax County, Va.) and I still don't think I received enough history education. In eighth grade, I was allowed the choice of civics class or starting a language. While the Spanish I learned was beneficial, I should have been required to take both. In 10th grade, again, I was given a choice of geography or something else. The only lasting lesson I have is from senior year government class, when we went to see it in action on Capitol Hill. It wasn't until college that I really even began to understand our colonial history.
I had a college roommate who didn't know which came first, the Revolutionary War or the Civil War. There's a logical answer even if you don't know our nation's chronology. Regardless, she had no idea. She was a product of New Jersey schools. A product of Virginia schools told me that history is boring. Boring? Only if whoever is teaching it or learning it is boring. History is everything that happened before right now. Hardly boring stuff. The drama! The romance! The war! The peace! The revolutionary thought! The feats of body, mind and soul! Am I using enough exclamation points? No!
I could trot out the quote about those who forget history being doomed to repeat it. There, I just did. Words to heed. My degree is in history. Journalism is writing the first draft of history. I'm a bit of a history nerd. I want one of those "I brake for historical markers" bumper stickers. I have an illustration of George Washington's inauguration hanging in my dining room. But I also understand the value of a comprehensive public education. I don't use trigonometry in my day-to-day life, but I'm glad I was forced to learn it. It was good for me, like vegetables. We can say that students have opportunities to explore history through other topics or electives, but sometimes you just need to eat your green beans as green beans. Every day.
My own kid is still more than three years away from public education. I expect him to be taught history each and every year until he graduates and goes to Duke, UNC or Virginia Tech. I want history class every single year. How dare we consider anything else. History, math, science, English. Vital to education, vital to life. P.E., the arts, technology and foreign language are just as vital. Cutting a core is unacceptable. If we need longer school years, so be it. Our culture is dumbed down enough already.
Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan may be reached at dvaughan@heraldsun.com or 419-6563.
