But BMG carried this discussion in May 2006 with a creative and legal solution: http://www.bluemassg…
Update: the Tufts/Yale study is being featured in the January 2008 edition of Political Science Quarterly. So are we going to continue bemoaning the lack of participation in our democracy (and all the ills that result) or are we going to seize the constitutional opportunity to do something about it?
Please share widely!
Where I went to school in Michigan, civics was taught. There were mock elections in the schools, as well as model United Nations and so forth.
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I was shocked when I found out it has been at least 20 years since civics, and the real workings of government were taught in Massachusetts public schools.
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Voting needs to be taught, and so do the realities of governance.
i had civics in middle school 11 years ago. i think at the time it was a required course in schools.
….when there was still time to file bills for this Session –
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http://www.bluemassg…
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The ultimate consensus was that teachers wouldn’t like it. I still disagree, and think that civics should be a graduation requirement.
In that thread, three actual living breathing teachers commented on this. All three said that they liked the idea, but had no idea how/where to fit it into the curriculum. The problem wasn’t what, but how.
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Any honest social studies teacher loves the idea of civics, but most of us are aware of the obstacles of wedging such a course into the train wreck of a system of social studies education we have in this state.
Frankly, I agree. Unless there is training, early, in civic engagement, well, it will not happen very often.
In a lot of cases it doesn’t need to be taught — it needs to be fun.
Mandates teaching about 3 weeks on the workings of the government (Schoolhouse Rock stuff) after the unit on the Constitution in US History. We’re talking sophomore year.
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Seniors may get more in an elective, but a real look at modern government, political parties, the rest? No in the state’s curriculum.
In my town, it’s very difficult to figure out what distinguishes the candidates for town council. It’s difficult to figure out if voting for someone represents or opposes my interests. Surely there are issues — budgetary, developmental, and environmental, but the candidates, when asked about this stuff, talk about careful study, diligence, listening, frugality, etc. Fine things certainly, but they are hardly determinative of a preference. All this is despite efforts to bring greater clarity.
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So voting here is like signing a difficult-to-read contract — and just as comforting.
A lot of people are abstracted from their communities. I got together with a bunch of childhood friends (including out of towners )last night and had to take a double take to recognize some of them. Far flung families, long commutes, and the bubble of online communication disconnect from a feeling of being vested in local community elections.
Bob, why do you seem so easily willing to make laws to force people to do things that they might not want to do? Do you remember that this is a free country? Does that mean anything to you besides free abortion and gay rights?