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Constitution Week

U.S. Constitution vs. Pop Culture

In a survey released by the National Constitution Center, evidence of a lack of constitutional knowledge is quite apparent. More students have greater knowledge of pop culture versus the United States Constitution. Six-hundred students responded to the survey.

Key findings from the survey include:

• 25.5% of respondents know that Philadelphia is the city where the Constitution was written compared to 75.2% who know what city the zip code 90210 is attributed to.
• 21.2% of respondents know how many senators served in the U.S. Senate compared to 81.2% who know how many members there are in the music group "Hanson."
• 35.5% of respondents know the first three words of the Constitution compared to 71.2% who know that www is the first three letters of most Web site addresses.
• 1.8% of respondents know that James Madison is considered the father of the U.S. Constitution compared to 58.3% who know that Bill Gates is the father of Microsoft.
• 25% of respondents know that the Fifth Amendment protects against double jeopardy/self incrimination/right to a grand jury/due process/compensation for private property taken for public use compared to 63.7% who know that "The Club" protects against car theft.
• 41.2% of respondents know the names of the three branches of government compared to 59.2% who know the names of the three stooges.

If these statistics make you chuckle, imagine how Senator Byrd must have felt. It is the results of surveys such as this that promote an increased desire in knowledge regarding American history and our documents of freedom.