[NyteSky]

I basically agree with Laiedheliel and Aosama. The school system definitely needs to be changed. Ideally they should get rid of grades. Ironically grades are what keep me from learning the most. We spend so much time worrying about those that there's no time to actually learn anything! Of course if they stopped grading most people would stop learning. As it is, I just hope random bits of information get stuck in my head as I fly through the material.
In my experience (I go to a private high school) most people don't care about learning. Most people don't even care about grades unless they get grounded for flunking. Almost no one actually reads the books we study in English. The funny thing is, most of them do fine on the tests anyhow. There are classes that I had this year where I learned nothing the entire time. Sorry, this has turned into a tirade against school.
The point is, the focus of school is no longer on learning. It's just something you have to get through to get to the interesting things. It's not just history, though I didn't even have a history class this year! I don't know if it's my generation, Americans, or human nature. It's a tragedy, whatever the reason.
On the other hand, in my class at least, there are quite a few who actually enjoy learning (I count myself among them) and do quite well. My closer friends read quite a bit and two of them in particular are history buffs.
I don't know where I'm going with this. Society in general would be better with a greater understanding of history, Frodo certainly needed it. Have you ever noticed how in almost every fantasy story there's one person who has tremendous knowledge? There's Gandalf in Lord of the Rings for example. Every quest seems to need at least one, a guide basically, who knows the history and customs and where to go and how to get there. Ok, this is too long already, sorry for my babbling.