Teens' Images of America: Inequity, Freedom and Diversity

High school students substantially agree that inequity, freedom, and diversity are predominant themes in their images of America, according to new findings on the substance of students' knowledge and beliefs about the United States and its history. These and other results are published in the summer issue of the American Educational Research Journal.

The study provides new insight on culture wars, student knowledge, student diversity, and teaching U.S. history. It is part of a larger project on what it means to be an American and the focus of a forthcoming book, Hearing America's Youth: Social Identities in Uncertain Times.

"For most of these students, America is more complex than a sound bite, a banner slogan, or a bicentennial minute," says Catherine Cornbleth, professor of education at the University at Buffalo. She conducted this research at three high schools in upstate New York. At least one third of the students interviewed voiced three additional themes: the United States as better than other nations, progress, and the American Dream.

Twenty-five juniors and seniors of diverse racial, ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds volunteered to participate in this in-depth study. They ranged in age from 16 to 19. This fall, she plans to interview more students.

What major sources shape these high school students' ideas about America? "Overall, school, including specific courses, was the most frequently noted source of students' images of America (23 of 25 students)," Professor Cornbleth reports. "After school, personal experience was the next most frequently cited influence (15 students); followed by family and/or older people, and TV and other news media (11 students each)."

"Although not overly positive, what students do know about the United States is both realistic and generally supportive of the nation-state," Professor Cornbleth writes. "The students are both critical and hopeful," adds this professor who also notes their relative sophistication. "By critical, the students say that America is not living up to its principles and promises in the Bill of Rights; by hopeful, they see that good things exist and could be better."

One comment by an African-American, male student exemplifies her findings: "America's not like it should be. It hasn't been for a long time. And until America decides that it's going to be, or live by the principles that it was built on, it will never be what it should always have been."

"Although students frequently mentioned freedom, often as their first response to our questions about what comes to mind when you hear the word U.S. or America, few had much to say about it," Professor Cornbleth writes of her pre-Sept. 11 interviews. "Most commonly, freedom was described as simply having the right, or being able, to do what you want. For some students, freedom meant having opportunities and choices, for example, about what to do with their lives."

Professor Cornbleth, who previously taught social studies at high schools in Texas and Connecticut, points out that "social studies curriculum may be missing opportunities to exert more constructive influence on young people's knowledge and beliefs about who 'we' are."

She notes that history in secondary schools focuses on people, places and events, "often competing with other, often more powerful sources, and missing opportunities to help students comprehend and think critically about the information they encounter in and out of school."

Based on her findings, Professor Cornbleth offers suggestions for reforming ways that history is taught. "Instead of 'one damn thing after another,' school history might help students to see connections and longer term processes, such as industrialization and post-industrialization, and struggles, like civil rights and environmental protection."

She recommends that by examining the dynamics of collective experiences, such as social class and gender, as well as individual accomplishments and frustrations, students will be able to see "both the societal forest and its various groves and trees."

In Professor Cornbleth's view, "a strong case could be made here for more cross-cultural education and experience, especially for students in largely White schools." Such an approach would accommodate diversity, as well as talking and working across differences. "America and its peoples might well benefit from nurturing continuing 'dialogue among differences' in and out of school."