More than 30% of parents who participated in a survey conducted last month by RealClear Opinion Research said their children are indifferent to the U.S. flag.
This percentage went up based on parents’ ages. Nearly 42% of parents aged 25-34 said their children feel indifferent about the flag and 52.6% of parents aged 18-24 said their children felt indifference to it.
“Data from additional questions on the survey suggest that younger parents may share some of that indifference about America in general,” said RealClear Politics.
Overall, most parents said their children feel either pride (46.9%) or gratitude (16.8%) when looking at the flag. Around 4% said their children felt shame and 1.7% said they felt disgust.
A total of 1,056 participants who are likely general election voters responded to the survey from Nov. 17 to Nov. 22. It was funded by the Jack Miller Center.
Most of the participants (36.5%) were between the ages of 45 and 64, 71% were white, around 39% were Democrats, 37% were Republicans, and around 24% were neither. Slightly more women participated than men.
While close to 90% of those surveyed said they agree that teaching children about our nation’s founding principles is “very important” around 70% don’t think U.S. schools are doing a good job at teaching those principles. More than 43% said they don’t feel their children are free to express their ideas at school, compared to around 31% who do and 25% who said they didn’t know.
Specifically, 70% said they don’t believe their children are getting an “honest picture” of the nation’s history in school. More than 90% of parents surveyed agreed that schools should “portray historical figures honestly with the understanding that we can teach a person’s achievements even if their views do not align with values today,” rather than minimizing or avoiding teaching about those figures.
Additionally, around 48% said their children’s school promotes a biased political agenda, compared to around 39% who don’t and a remainder who said they don’t know.
More than half of the participants said that children should received civic education before high school and during high school. Most parents (70.2%) agreed that civic education should focus on the underlying principles of American politics, including the history of the Declaration of Independence. Just under 23% said the focus should be on how to actively promote change in government.
Close to 90% said that students should understand the Declaration of Independence and Constitution, as well as the responsibilities of citizenship, before they graduate from high school. More than half said that a public school system is the best way to educate children.
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