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Letter: Children should value, celebrate Constitution
Op-Ed · September 18, 2014
“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
On Sept. 17, 1787, a small group of men signed, quite possibly, the most important document ever written. Our nation’s Constitution has been continually tested and survived for over 200 years, stronger than ever, in spite of a Civil War and a multitude of constitutional challenges.
It is then, our duty to protect and defend the Constitution, and the democracy it represents, just as previous generations have fought and died to preserve them.
We the people have that responsibility, yet nearly 50 percent of our citizens don’t bother to vote, even when it is clear the equal protections and general welfare of the people of this country are threatened.
Why is that? Perhaps George Washington said it best, “A primary object should be the education of our youth in the science of government.
In a republic, what species of knowledge can be equally important? And what duty more pressing than communicating it to those who are to be the future guardians of the liberties of the country?”
Do we even teach civics anymore? If not, why not? Our future will be shaped by what, and how well, we teach our children and there is no greater teacher than each of us taking our responsibilities as a citizen seriously.
Larry Hodgden, Tipton
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