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Teaching kids about history is giving them invaluable information about how to be a productive member of society in the future.
History is much more than facts and fates. History is about people and how they lived, thought, worked, voted, worshiped, raised families, and contributed to the changes that made their society different from that of their parents. It is not just about presidents, famous generals, and captains of industry.
These people were important of course. But history is also about people like you and me, like out parents and grandparents. It is about all the people--men, women, adults and children, rich and poor. It is about people whose skins are different shades and whose beliefs vary---all these people were history-makers; not a single social movement or political movement happened in society without the participation of masses of individuals.
Why should we bother to learn about the past? Because history helps us understand where we fit into the long stream of time. By studying the world of those who went before us, we gain perspective on our own world--we see better who we are, what we want, what is worth striving for and defending---and what is in need of change. We learn how to tell what is important, how to detect bias, weigh evidence, separate anecdote from analysis and distinguish between fact and conjecture.
With these abilities we are able to change out world in ways that we understand are fitting.
In other words, history is a powerful tool. It empowers us by making us see the importance of becoming active participants in society--in public as well as private ways. If we learn how ordinary individuals were the source of mighty changes, we come to understand our potential for contributing to the process by which the present becomes the future.
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