Katherine Yao 10/13/2011 What is the value of a good social studies education in high school and what should

such education entail? Throughout my high school years, I have always seen social studies as one of the classes I tend to struggle in. And the night before every test, while sprawled out on my bed with a laptop, textbook, and my notebook flopped open to a random page, I curse to myself, Why do I even care about this? What happened in the past has been said and done; cant we just move on? I believe that the true value in social studies comes in making us students contributors to society. History, politics, and economics all fall within the realm of social studies because society thrives around these three components. I believe that in order to be a valuable asset to society, one must have a clear understanding of these aspects of social studies. After all, how can we expect to better society if we do not even understand it? For example, in order to elect the right candidates to hold government offices, we must understand the political atmosphere, as well as the economic circumstances. In order to not make the mistakes of the past, we learn from history to see what has worked and what has fallen short. A good social studies education teaches us how to be valuable citizens for our nation, and our world, because we present-day high school students will become the leaders of our world in the future.