The Three Branches of the Government:
What are they?


Legislative, judicial, and executive. Honestly, how many of you knew that those were the three branches of the government? That’s the problem now and days. (Hansen 32-27) “Forty-one states’ schools, in America, earned a D or F in teaching civics.” Half of American citizens can’t even name the three branches of their government. If schools, the government itself, parents, and communities tried to help teach the three branches, more than just fifty percent would know.

School; it’s normally a place where people learn about almost everything. Well, in America, as said before, only forty-one state schools know about the three branches of the government. If the school made civics a class that was mandatory, than probably more Americans would know about the branches. Now, since the class is mandatory, the schools should try to make it enjoyable. Instead of just having the students take notes twenty-four-seven, the teachers could try to develop a pleasurable, hands-on project for the students to do.

Since it’s the government the students are learning about, maybe the government itself should be the one teaching the students. On one of those hands-on projects that the school is going to give; they could have a field trip to the Supreme Court and actually see how the three branches work. After watching, the students could actually be able to pretend to be judges in the judicial branch, or maybe even pretend to be the president.


Parents play an important role in the part of their kids learning about the government. Obviously, they don’t expect their child to be a genius about the government at the age of five, but they should expect you to at least know about the branches by third or fourth grade. Your parents could encourage you on your projects and/or other assignments you may receive in school.

By hosting several annual parties and/or special events in the community is another way to help kids become educated in civics. By planning these repetitious parties and/or special events; the community could be mentally planting a screw in the brains of young citizens. The themes of the events could be things such as, when the judicial, legislative, and executive branches were made, the first judge’s birthday; the list will go on and on.

It’s not just your responsibility to learn about the government; there are plenty of resources out there to help you learn. It is your responsibility to acknowledge the information that’s being given to you. So, instead of sitting there learning the lyrics to the next big hit, try to learn the things that will help you in the future; after all, we are the next generation.