ABSTRACT
Preliterate and modern societies have one basic attribute in common: The culture that was constructed in one period is inherited by succeeding generations. The modern bureaucratic state and its people's aspiration for liberal democracy for all has created a social class structure that for many appears to be as unyielding as medieval society. Academic ideas about American social studies education are founded in ideological perspectives that have grown primarily out of Western Civilization. As successful as America has been in finding a prescription not to officially favor any religious beliefs in its schools, it has done so at the expense of utilizing religion as a significant force in the shaping of students' identities and ideologies. Modernity, particularly media, is challenging the status of parents and schools, which have traditionally played the most influential roles in the enculturation of children and adolescents.
