For many the drop off in civic participation and voting among youth is seen as a failure of schools. I agree, however our recommendations on improving schools to better foster such civic participation is where we diverge. Peter Levine, of CIRCLE, threw out some ideas on his blog:

We know (more or less) what students should experience in schools to prepare them for democracy. They should take classes that introduce them to great principles and issues of democracy and that help them to see how these themes relate to their own practical concerns. Students should be able to serve in their communities and write about or discuss their service. There should be youth groups that they can join, including student governments and school newspapers. They should have opportunities to discuss current issues with neutral and well-informed adults as moderators. They should get a hearing when they express their views on the governance of their own schools. And they should occasionally play challenging civic roles in simulations such as Model UN, mock trial, or computer games about politics.

While I’m sure Peter, being far better read than I, could cite many studies that show participation in Model UN or student council increase the chances that students vote and become active in politics; recommendations like the above barely scratch the surface of what is needed if we genuinely care about increasing the civic participation of youth, and in some ways may in fact be detrimental.

Students taking the most inspiring civics classes conducted by the greatest educators, and involving themselves in the most ambitious park clean up project aren’t going to involve themselves in politics any more than usual if all these programs happen to occur in North Korea. Having the most magnificent bay-window from which to observe the nation’s politics is not enough when that same window serves as a barrier separating the viewer from the world they are observing.

How can we teach democracy to students who don’t live in one?

Certainly the nation as a whole is democratic, but students live in a sub-culture whose governance structure more closely resembles Saudi Arabia than the United States. Schools are not democratic, and our democratic society excludes youth at all levels.

Experience is a far better teacher than textbooks and diagrams. When students vote for student council, do they learn the interworkings of democracy, or do they learn that elections are empty popularity contests without any relevance to their real lives? When they write for the school newspaper do they learn the power of a free press, or do they learn how best to self-censor their writing so as not to offend the authorities? When they participate in Model UN or mock trials or computer simulations do they learn valuable lessons or do they learn that in spite of their greatest efforts they are just playing a game without any real consequences or outcomes?

As CIRCLE no doubt knows, cynicism and disillusionment are both large factors that prevent youth from voting. Where, I wonder, do those attitudes take root? Precisely in policies that seek to teach democracy to youth while preventing their participation in it, I imagine.

Back in January there was a nation-wide gasp of surprise in certain circles due to a study showing that high school students were losing their support for the First Amendment with half saying that newspapers should require government approval for their stories. It makes perfect sense to me. This is exactly what schools are teaching them. Not just through words, but more powerfully through deeds. Free citizens are not nurtured in “enclaves of totalitarianism”.

Schools must BE democratic, not just talk about it. And youth must be allowed to vote and run for office in the real world long before they’ve had time to become cynical about it all.

Levine’s point is well taken however, that even the modest changes he seeks face much resistance. I wonder however whether the resistance is greater not in spite of this modesty, but because of it. Timid, bland proposals fail to excite and fail to earn popular support or momentum. The only thing that will snap schools out of their 50 or 80 year stagnancy is a true revolution in approach, methods, structure, and culture in education. If the status quo fight even the slightest, watered-down reforms tooth and nail, then lets give them something to fight about.

I mean no disrespect to Levine, or to the great work that CIRCLE does if this sounds too much like an angry rant, but I don’t have Levine’s brains, or CIRCLE’s money, passion is the only resource I’ve got.

This entry was posted on Friday, September 30th, 2005 at 2:28 pm and is filed under Youth Rights. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.