I recently heard that civics is no longer being taught at the high school level.
That means that the average American student has no idea how government is run.
Civics is not politics, it is how politics work. And the difference is crucial.
Do you know how the chair of a Congressional committee is selected? Until 1994, the senior member of the committee was automatically the chair. Since then, party loyalists are chosen as chair.
That is dangerous to democracy. When only the loyalist is chosen, the people's need for objective debate in Congress is lost. Ignorance of civics leads to poor choices of how we govern ourselves.
History teaches us where we have been so we don't have to make the same mistakes again.
History and civics go hand in hand. If your child isn't getting either in school, go to the Internet and get the questions and the answers and teach them yourself.
It makes fascinating dinner table conversation. Indeed, 20 questions on those subjects was the way my parents kept us from quibbling at the dinner table.
How can we be committed to justice and the rule of law, if we don't know civics?
Our attention has been diverted from intelligent thought to simple commercialism.
Our boredom with history leads to lack of knowing how to reach our Congress with significant issues. We allow ourselves to be smoke-screened with issues of lesser importance such as flag burning and euthanasia and allow habeas corpus to be torn from us without understanding what it is and how that affects us.
Teach civics at home and insist that it be taught in the schools!
Pamela Anderegg
Auburn
Civics is not politics, it is how politics work. And the difference is crucial.
Do you know how the chair of a Congressional committee is selected? Until 1994, the senior member of the committee was automatically the chair. Since then, party loyalists are chosen as chair.
That is dangerous to democracy. When only the loyalist is chosen, the people's need for objective debate in Congress is lost. Ignorance of civics leads to poor choices of how we govern ourselves.
History teaches us where we have been so we don't have to make the same mistakes again.
History and civics go hand in hand. If your child isn't getting either in school, go to the Internet and get the questions and the answers and teach them yourself.
It makes fascinating dinner table conversation. Indeed, 20 questions on those subjects was the way my parents kept us from quibbling at the dinner table.
How can we be committed to justice and the rule of law, if we don't know civics?
Our attention has been diverted from intelligent thought to simple commercialism.
Our boredom with history leads to lack of knowing how to reach our Congress with significant issues. We allow ourselves to be smoke-screened with issues of lesser importance such as flag burning and euthanasia and allow habeas corpus to be torn from us without understanding what it is and how that affects us.
Teach civics at home and insist that it be taught in the schools!
Pamela Anderegg
Auburn
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Farmer's Gal wrote on Jul 9, 2008 8:04 AM:
brew1234 wrote on Jul 9, 2008 12:11 AM:
Farmer's Gal wrote on Jul 8, 2008 2:55 PM:
My kids are the kind who, when the older one was only 14 or 15, I'd get up in the middle of the night to find him online -- debating the war with adults who didn't know he was a kid on the New York Times discussion forums. I don't think I have much worry about the two of them knowing which end is up - but there are surely lots of other kids who are in the dark, and they will be molding our future as much as any other citizens.
Where, Pamela, did you hear they've ceased to teach civics, at Auburn high? "
cm wrote on Jul 8, 2008 1:46 PM:
Maybe because 'it wasnt in my interest or needed' in my 20's--it is of value in my 40's.
As I see the same followed in my older kids--its not an important subject unless it affects them personally.
however--as I am spreading the words now and laying better ground work for my 9 yr old , I hope these 'kids' will stay atop of things that DO affect their lives in the future! "