I recently learned about a group called Teens Leading the Way. TLTW is a teen-led state wide group that understands that providing lasting opportunities for youth is important for the advancement of our communities through the creation of an educated civically engaged workforce. By organizing to create a voice for youth, TLTW provides healthy alternatives to street violence, works to resolve issues of great importance to today’s youth and kick-starts a lifetime of civic involvement in disadvantaged communities.
TLTW’s latest campaign is making civics a graduation requirement in Massachusetts’s high schools. This initiative will provide young people in schools across the state with an Opportunity to Learn on how to use their power to organize and influence policy makers in their communities and in the state to improve the education systems. This is an exercise that will stay with them for the rest of their lives.
On February 24th the young activists will be part of a rally to the State House to urge our Legislators to continue funding for youth summer jobs. After the rally takes place they will meet at 30 Winter Street to strategize on how to make the civics education legislation a reality. I am excited to be part of this effort and if you believe like me that civics should be an important part of our education curriculum please contact Geoff Foster from UTEC to get involved with this campaign.
I hope it turns out to be real civics — how this country works — rather than the typical “how a bill becomes a law” (here’s a hint: if there’s no mention of money in the process, it’s not real civics). I also like that this bill makes it a mandated part of a curriculum rather than an MCAS giveaway.
Yes, campaign finance is certainly part, as is party organization, the constitution, all branches of government, and how a bill becomes law, including legislative procedure. I’d also like this class to include a unit on state civics for MA.
There are many areas of the arts and sciences that are not required and so not funded. Civics is covered in US History.
The only inclusion of civics is a rushed overview thrown after the Constitution in US history. It’s nothing that prepares someone to be a citizen in this country. Some of us think that’s more important than teaching increasingly esoteric things that computers already do.
The fall in the voting rate, and willingness to allow rights to be reduced, poor quality representation, and lack of transparency all became worse when civics, model governments, and the like were removed from education in this state.
Is that these young people came up with this project themselves. And are driving this every day. Full week ahead for them . Just waking up on first day of weekend retreat planning jobs action on 24th. Lots of energy.
Hmm.
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…as long as we stick to the night of 12/16/1773, but I guess that’s covered in History:)
I don’t know if a full course is needed to cover the material, but it is definitely not necessarily covered in existing US history curricula. I know it wasn’t directly covered in my high school program.
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p>I would love to see some sort of High School program that encourages students to learn about the issues and candidates and vote when they first become eligible. I believe that kids that learn to become engaged with their civic responsibilities from an early age will be much more likely to grow into adults who vote and otherwise participate in politics. Of course, that is probably exactly why politicians currently in power might be against such a plan.
It’s good to see young activists doing something worthwhile, for one.
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p>More civics education would provide many benefits, at all levels of government, and in all corners of our society.
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p>I am Town Moderator in my town, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Moderators Association. I do not speak in either capacity, but only for myself when I say that a common topic of conversation among Moderators is about how to increase participation in Town Meeting. We have a unique and wonderful form of true democracy here in New England, and it would be great if more people were aware of how special it is, and would perhaps be motivated to participate.
…there is a Massachusetts Moderators Association. I am running for Moderator of my town this spring.
We had almost zero civics or government classes at my high school, and I took mostly AP History courses and they still didn’t mention these important facets of history. Back when I was a high school delegate to my school committee I worked strongly with Luc Schuster and Marc McGovern on this and it seems that Cambridge will be adopting it as part of the new middle school plan. But it is vital, particularly local governance, how the city council works, how to vote in Cambridge’s unique PR elections, how the state leg works, what the governors council does, what an auditor does, really going into the grist of government so we can have educated voters who know who their representatives are and what they do.
has been doing a mock town meeting for years with high school kids.