WATCH: Students fail civics questions
Kaia Lehenbauer went to the University of Virginia to ask students their thoughts about Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy's proposal that all high school students must pass a basic civics test to graduate.
Campus Reform Correspondent Kaia Lehenbauer visited the University of Virginia to gauge student opinions on presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy’s proposal that high school students should be required to pass a basic civics course before graduating. Students expressed mixed feelings about the idea. While some acknowledged the importance of understanding basic civics and how the government works, others questioned the fairness of preventing students from graduating based on this criterion. One student even described the proposal as “almost elitist,” arguing that it sets a standardized level of intelligence as a requirement for progressing to higher education or other fields.
Lehenbauer also conducted an impromptu civics test, asking students basic questions about the U.S. Constitution and their state’s senators. Many students failed to answer correctly. When asked about their performance, some students admitted to feeling embarrassed and expressed a desire to educate themselves better. Others argued that while it’s important to understand the basics of civics, reducing educational achievement to a single test could create a homogenized population. The video concludes with students acknowledging the need for more comprehensive American history and civics education, even if they were divided on the idea of making it a graduation requirement.
