I’m struck by the disparities in civic education between my personal experience and that of basically the rest of New York State. As I've read lesson plans and researched civic education, I’ve been thinking about a comment from my supervisor. He said that only about 24% of high school seniors in Buffalo can name the three branches of government.
This lack of adequate civic education gives way to a breadth of basic knowledge that leaves a lot to be desired. More insidiously, kids who never learned government’s basic functions are logically less likely to care about it, more likely to feel that it doesn't work for them, and more likely to be disillusioned about their ability to influence change through their government. They may rarely or never vote and are even less likely to join a movement, write a letter, or speak at a public hearing. We are not teaching our youth how to contribute to our democracy,
Conversely, my social studies/government classes in my middle and high school were, in retrospect, truly remarkable. I remember learning about the structure and functions of the government all throughout middle school. In high school, I was lucky enough that my school offered AP U.S. History, and my economics class taught me more than just personal finance - I learned about the role of the government in the economy. My government class not only taught us the basics about government but also required that we attend at least one village or town board meeting. At the end of the semester, our civics teacher helped us all fill out voter registration forms and sent them in herself. While I'm not sure if this was her own decision or if it was put into the curriculum by the school board, I feel that I had experiences in all of my social studies classes that shaped me into a more politically involved person. Joining in on the civics education project at PPG made me quickly realize that not everyone receives a civic education that comes close to the quality of mine.
In the years since I've graduated from high school, so much has happened in the nation and the world politically that the apathy of so many people has become increasingly frustrating to me. I now realize that not everyone comes out of high school on a level playing field in regards to civic knowledge. Our democracy can never work as ideally as possible - for everyone - if so much of the population doesn't even have a basic understanding of government. Democratic processes should not lie in the hands of those fortunate enough to have access to good education or lucky enough to have had one really outstanding civics teacher. One can certainly make the argument that information about the government is easier to access than ever before because of the internet. But I think that unless the importance of democracy is stressed from a young age and participation within government has a low barrier to entry, civic participation will remain stagnant.
In her distinguished speaker series talk on June 12th, our Board Chair Lou Jean Fleron said something along the lines of, "Despite all their hypocrisy, the Founding Fathers at least believed that this country should be run by a democracy, not by the aristocracy." I want to bolster civic education - to make it an equalizing force, for the betterment of the nation.