A crisis occurs daily in this country. It has nothing to do with our failure to find Saddam’s weapons of mass destruction. If uncorrected, this pernicious problem will lead to an erosion of elemental underpinnings of our democratic society.
The problem: Tens, hundreds and probably thousands of citizens seek to avoid jury duty.
If asked why they seek to avoid jury duty, many say that it is a hardship, it is inconvenient, it is boring and, “Really, I’ll never get picked anyway.” Rather than look upon it as a civic duty, a responsibility owed to one’s self and your fellow citizens, jury duty is felt to be for those who are not smart enough to get out of it.
This cynical view has evolved over time and, similarly, it will take time to wash it away. For over 200 years, men and women have fought and made the ultimate sacrifice to preserve our democratic way of life. Our Constitution guarantees the right to trial by jury to each and every one of us. If we cannot reverse this trend of civic avoidance, the price paid may prove to have been in vain.
This attitude that civic responsibility is for the other guy was created by our own hand. About half of our states no longer require a high school student to take civics or American history as a graduation requirement. The Senate, in response to an appalling lack of students’ understanding of history and civics, passed recently The American History and Civics Education Act. This Act will fund courses for teachers to learn (and relearn) basic American history and civics to enable them to teach these subjects to their students.
But more is needed. After all, how can you blame students who harbor apathy to civic responsibility when 50 percent of the states don’t think it is important enough to require at least one history or civics course during four years of high school. Each student who graduates high school should be required to have passed basic courses in our history and civics. At least they will have had some exposure to fundamental cornerstones of our country.
In passing The American History and Civics Education Act, the Senate responded to some very scary statistics. For example, some studies show that one in five high school students believes that Germany was our ally in World War II. One of four eighth graders does not know why the Civil War was fought.
Wait, there is more.
In his recent book, “Non-Campus Mentis,” professor Anders Henricksson has compiled history according to actual answers given by college students. A few examples, while quite humorous, prove the depth of the abyss: The Boston Tea Party was held at Pearl Harbor; Americans wanted no part of the French and Indian War because they did not want to fight with India; U.S. Congress began the job of tryst busting; Martin Luther King gave his “If I had a Hammer” speech during the Civil Rights Movement; and The Carter Administration had to deal with the Iran Hostess crisis.
These students will eventually be taxpayers, voters and jurors (because they appear to not be smart enough to avoid jury duty).
Hopefully, a renewed interest in American history and civics will be spawned by the American History and Civics Education Act. If so, one hopes that it follows that citizens will look upon their civic duties, such as jury service, as a privilege and not something to be dodged. If not, then as one student stated, “It is now the age of now. This concept grinds our critical, seething minds to a halt.”
And maybe democracy along with it.
— Larry Glenn is an attorney in St. Louis and a member of The Levison Group, which provides columns for this newspaper. He may be reached at [email protected].