How can they grasp the events

of the 20th century without comprehending those of the 19th? In government

classes during senior year, teenagers will struggle to recall those founding

fathers that drafted the Constitution and the circumstances surrounding

their decision. Studying government would make little sense. Why, students

will question themselves, is equal representation such an issue?

Much will be forgotten. Much

will be lost, fall through the cracks. We will encourage ignorance and

feign surprise when the numbers of college dropouts increase and Georgia

falls even further behind nationally. That is the inevitable outcome.

The benefits of teaching history

completely and thoroughly in high school are too numerous to enumerate

here. History and English teachers often find correlation between their

subject matter. I remember studying Thoreau in my literature class while

learning about the transcendental movement in U.S. history.

I read "The Narrative

of the Life of Frederick Douglass" for an English assignment before

presenting to my history class biographical information about the same

man. The correlation between the two classes has always enhanced the learning

experience. But that, too, will be lost.

Similarly, classes within the

same school will be studying different topics at the same time. Students

will not be able to discuss the subjects that they are learning in class

as each teacher teaches at his own rate a course lined with excessive

flexibility.

Students in advanced placement

classes will have to study all of history to prepare for the AP test in

May. They will be on a completely different track than their peers, and,

luckily for them, the only ones to receive a thorough background in history.

It is unfortunate that we would

choose immediate gratification over long-term benefits. If a change is

necessary, then we must certainly search for a solution, but haphazard

guesses will not suffice. An all-out surrender of methods that have withstood

the onslaught of time for the sake of increasing test numbers is inexcusable.

I know the value of a good

education. I can appreciate the history I have learned these past few

years. I appreciate learning the truth in place of speculations and reality

instead of a simplified story. My knowledge of the past better equips

me to face the future. I cannot promise that same chance to our future

graduates who will be affected by this modification in teaching.

Short cuts have never been

good enough for Georgia before. Why should they be now?

Cheryl New

Peachtree City, Ga.

[Ms. New, 17, is a senior at

McIntosh High School and a member of the Peachtree City Youth Council.]