This might be funny if it weren’t so utterly pathetic and disgusting. A recent survey of high school seniors in Oklahoma revealed a startling lack of basic civics knowledge in the state. I mean a real, real lack of knowledge… as in only about 25% of the students polled could name George Washington as the first President of the United States.

In observance of… ahem… Constitution Day, the conservative think tank Strategic Vision, based in Oklahoma City conducted the survey, lifting 10 questions from the actual citizenship exam.

According to the INS, roughly 92% of the immigrants who take this test pass it on their first attempt. In comparison, according to Strategic Vision, less than 3% of the students surveyed passed the exam. 3 freaking percent. Talk about a national embarrassment. These questions should be gimmies by the time you’re a high school senior. These are 10 of the most basic questions about civics that any 8th grader should be able to answer.

Think I’m exaggerating about just how simple these questions are? Take a look for yourself. Here are the actual survey questions and the percentage of Oklahoma high school students that got them right.

What is the supreme law of the land? --- 28%
What do we call the first ten amendments to the Constitution? --- 26%
What are the two parts of the U.S. Congress? --- 27%
How many justices are there on the Supreme Court? --- 10%
Who wrote the Declaration of Independence? --- 14%
What ocean is on the east coast of the United States? --- 61%
What are the two major political parities in the United States? --- 43%
We elect a U.S. Senator for how many years? --- 11%
Who was the first President of the United States? --- 23%
Who is in charge of the Executive Branch? --- 29%

A similar survey of high school students conducted in Arizona recently yielded results equally as abysmal as those in Oklahoma.

Undoubtedly, many people are going to point the finger of blame at the public school system. That just seems to be the default position of many people… among them, conservatives who believe we should be privatizing public education. And while the public school system isn’t without its own share of inefficiencies and ineffectiveness, the results of these surveys imply, at least to me, something far larger and far more disturbing.

How does one get through 12 years of schooling and not be able to name George Washington as this country’s first president? That implies to me, a very willful ignorance and a complete and utter apathy toward this nation’s history and our government. This isn’t just a problem with the public school system… this is a problem that runs much deeper than that. A problem that I believe, begins with the families. In fact, though I do believe that our public school systems have many, many issues, I personally think that a lot of the problems with the education, or lack thereof, that students are receiving today can be addressed through a really radical concept called… get ready… parental involvement. I know, I know… I said it was a crazy and radical idea. However… that is another rant for another day and one I will most assuredly be getting to soon enough.

You might be wondering why I’m making such a big deal or even care about the results of these surveys, right? Well, I personally think that the implications of these surveys are truly frightening. These kids will be voting… they will be helping to decide the future of this country, laws that will impact every single one of us… and yet they know next to nothing about basic civics, about the basic history of this country. I don’t know about you, but that scares the crap out of me. That somebody who doesn’t understand the most basic nuts and bolts of our country’s governmental machinery will be helping to make decisions that will possibly have a far-reaching impact on *my* life… yeah, that terrifies me.

And I don’t know about you, but it strikes me as not just sad and pathetic but also incredibly ironic that Oklahoma and Arizona… two of the reddest of the red states… homes of the chest-thumping, flag-waving uber-patriots who demand honor, reverence and respect for this country’s heritage and history… apparently don’t know a damn thing about this nation’s heritage or history.

I understand that people have the right to be absolutely ignorant in this country. I just wish that so many people didn’t exercise that right with such zeal.