Effective citizens are sophisticated consumers of information. They ask hard questions about the issues facing their community, state, and nation. All of these behaviors are learned, not innate.

American ideas are important, an essential element for charting our future. Unfortunately, we may be losing our ability to discern quality debate.

Where are the lessons of responsible citizenship? Where is the citizens' manual? Civic responsibility is not innate. It must be learned, and so it must be taught.

Our Constitution is constantly bandied about, quoted, cited, and interpreted by every pundit from every media outlet and every political persuasion. Don't just take their word for it. What do you actually know about the Constitution? What do your children know about the Constitution?

There is a lot of talk today implying that the purpose of education is job training. Our nation will not survive if our education system merely produces economic units. We must safeguard the future of the republic by educating to increase the most essential national resource: informed, engaged citizens.

Who's responsible for instilling in our young people an appreciation for history and citizenship? Many of us -- teachers, educators, and members of the public alike -- are very concerned about the demise of social studies.

I am fed up with teacher-bashing. It seems everyone is willing to belittle teachers. But these same critics are not willing to step forward and do the job themselves.

Our students must understand that education is not about preparing them just for the workforce. Education should prepare them to be citizens of their communities, their states, and the nation.

Americans have forgotten the reason why we educate children in America. As a result our children, schools, communities, and the nation are suffering.

Citizens must explore these American history stories to understand our revolutionary ideals and how those ideals help us understand our responsibility as 21st-century citizens of the American republic.