January 1, Why Young Americans Are Turning Their Backs on the Country That Gave Them Everything

Wyatt’s Take

• Record-low pride in America among young people — and liberals are driving the collapse
• Schools have replaced American greatness with anti-American propaganda for an entire generation
• The solution is simple: tell our kids the truth about the greatest nation on earth

Just weeks before our nation’s 250th birthday, new polling reveals a crisis of patriotism. A record-low number of Americans say they’re “extremely proud” to be Americans. Two groups are driving the freefall: liberals and young Americans.

Only 29% of Democrats and 36% of 18- to 34-year-olds say they are “very” or “extremely proud” of being American. Meanwhile, 90% of Republicans and 75% of seniors still love their country.

But here’s the good news buried in those numbers: this isn’t a permanent condition. It’s a knowledge problem, and knowledge problems have solutions.

For decades, surveys have shown older Americans know far more about our founding, our Constitution, and our history than younger Americans do. A recent study by the American Enterprise Institute asked Americans about key elements of U.S. history — the Bill of Rights, the Civil War, the Cold War.

The findings were clear: “Members of Gen Z were less knowledgeable on each historical landmark than were baby boomers.”

The National Assessment of Educational Progress confirms the disaster. Students’ test scores in U.S. history have been falling for over a decade. Fewer than 15% of eighth graders are proficient in history, and only one-fifth are proficient in civics.

It gets worse. College students and adults show the same knowledge gaps. Only one-third of Americans know enough about our country to pass the citizenship test we require for new immigrants.

Connect the dots. The people who love our country most tend to be the ones who know her best. American history is the second greatest story ever told.

The problem? We stopped telling that story to our children.

Worse than that — we twisted the story. The elites who run America’s schools, news media, and entertainment industry have spent a generation lying to our kids about our country. In classrooms across America today, our history is treated like a horror story.

Students don’t learn about our successes — only our sins.

Of course kids drowning in anti-American propaganda are going to grow up less patriotic. But here’s the hope: if the root cause of America’s patriotism gap is ignorance about our history, the problem can be solved.

All we have to do is tell the truth about America.

That’s exactly what “Star Spangled Adventures: The Movie!” does. It’s a series of animated shorts that tells the true story of the United States.

Each episode introduces children to a hero or moment from America’s history — from Christopher Columbus and the Pilgrims through the Revolution, the Civil War, and all the way to the Wright brothers and Jackie Robinson. Launched three years ago by the American Cornerstone Institute, the series now has over 30 episodes and has reached hundreds of thousands of children and their families.

Through the Little Patriots initiative, historians and educators created original classroom resources to go along with each episode. Fighting back against historical ignorance one story at a time.

This year, in celebration of America’s 250th, “Star Spangled Adventures” became a feature-length film. The movie features the voices of stars such as Kirk Cameron, Gary Sinise, and Kevin Sorbo.

No nation is perfect, but ours is extraordinary. At no point in the last 250 years was there a country that presented more opportunities than America did.

Sure, we had our faults. But every other country’s faults were at least as bad, and usually worse.

Today, Americans of every race, creed, and color are freer, more prosperous, and more secure in their God-given rights than any people in history. “Star Spangled Adventures” reminds us all that the best reason Americans should love their country is that their country is so lovable.

And the best way to revive American patriotism is to start telling our children the truth about the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Why It Matters

Our kids deserve to know the truth about the country that gives them more freedom and opportunity than anywhere else on earth. When we let the left control what our children learn about America, we surrender our future. Teaching real history — the good, the inspiring, the exceptional — isn’t propaganda. It’s patriotism. And it’s the only way we pass this republic on to the next generation.