Sophie Wiepking-Brown
Anchorage
Essay Topic: How can our schools move students towards civic responsibility, i.e., becoming voters, increasing awareness of local, state, and national governments and political issues, and understanding the relationship of our history to current situations?
A University of Maryland study found that high school students who receive a civic education in school are much more likely to be socially and politically involved. Unfortuately, since 1960, the number of civics courses taken in schools has declined by two-thirds. In a 1787 letter, Thomas Jefferson wrote, “Cherish…the spirit of our people, and keep alive their attention. If once they become inattentive to the public affairs, you and I, and Congress and Assemblies, judges, and governors, shall all become wolves.” To maintain the health of our republic, it is imperative that schools play a greater role in the development of an engaged public.
Programs in schools such as the We the People competition imbue students with a greater sense of their role in society as citizens. It is a successful civics course because of the more active teaching strategies used; students are responsible for researching and composing prepared responses to constitutional questions and facing a panel of judges with follow-up questions, using their accumulated knowledge of the U.S. system of government. In contrast, the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), found in 2006 that most civics courses use teacher-centric methods like textbooks and worksheets. On average, students in classes like these go on to demonstrate much less civic zeal.
One solution is to give more attention to the political process by bringing it into schools. The League of Women Voters of Anchorage sponsors Youth Vote, which gives teachers educational resources about our electoral system. In 2008, students witnessed firsthand a political debate between U.S. House and Senate candidates at West Anchorage High School. While Youth Vote sponsors a mock vote for students of all ages, more attention should be paid to registering those of legal age to vote in the actual elections. According to CIRCLE, states that allow Election Day registration have fourteen percent higher youth voter turnout rates. Because Alaska requires registration at least thirty days before an election, this statistic could be combated by having nonpartisan voter registration drives in schools before elections.
However, registering eighteen-year-olds to vote does very little unless they are familiar with the ballot items. More time in the classroom should be devoted to current issues, with students paying attention to the news, researching positions, and formulating their own opinions. It is also important to draw parallels to American and world history, but the exciting relevance of today may ultimately have a greater effect on the students’ continued participation in social and political affairs.
As a nation, we operate under the principle of popular sovereignty, which means that the government’s authority rests solely with the people. This ideal is undermined by the fact that voter turnout in America ranks close to the bottom among democratic nations. In Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville wrote that “The health of a democratic society may be measured by the quality of functions performed by private citizens.” If students can learn to appreciate the political process while in school, the United States, or at least Alaska, will never want for civic responsibility.
