Community News
Mar. 8, 2014
Retired justice talks civics at LA forum
Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor spoke to a group in Los Angeles on Monday about the importance of civics education in the country and to promote her educational public affairs website, iCivics.org. "Our nation's schools are failing to teach our children the essential skills of citizenship," she said. Fewer than a third of eighth graders in a recent study could identify the historical purpose of the Declaration of Independence, she lamented, "and it's right there in the name!" She added that relationship children have with technology is both a blessing and a curse, noting that devices like iPhones have the power both to distract and to educate. "Our young people must have the strongest thumbs of any generation," she said. O'Connor, 83, emphasized that such learning isn't limited to youngsters. "Anyone who stops learning is old," she said, quoting industrialist Henry Ford. "I think the goal really should be for all of us to commit to lifelong learning." — Ben Adlin
Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor spoke to a group in Los Angeles on Monday about the importance of civics education in the country and to promote her educational public affairs website, iCivics.org.
"Our nation's schools are failing to teach our children the essential skills of citizenship," she said.
Fewer than a third of eighth graders in a recent study could identify the historical purpose of the Declaration of Independence, she lamented, &...
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