Everyone’s left behind without civics

Summer’s nearly over and another year of school beginning means No Child Left Behind will have yet another chance to leave nearly every child behind. Being able to read and write is certainly important, but not of very much practical use if the students never learn to be citizens.

In this time of war, one that has been going on for more than four years now, half of Americans cannot point to Iraq on a map. An even larger number cannot place where Afghanistan is.

“Well, they’re so far away,” you counter. “No one ever knew they would be important. It’s not like Americans can be counted on to know every little country in the world.”

True, but people who are well educated do know these things, along with how their countries operate.

It’s been a long time since “Civics” was a familiar class name in high school, but it, along with another MIA, “Geography,” should be brought back, pronto.

I admit I took neither in high school, though it should be mentioned, by the time I attended, in the late 1980s, “Civics” no longer existed, and “Geography” had been whittled down to a lower-level, one-year course that inconveniently conflicted with my advanced algebra class. By the time I graduated, “Geography,” which was limited to the U.S. anyway, had been eliminated.

Civics, by the way, for those who are unaware, is the subject of our government, how it works and how to be a good citizen.

If you didn’t know this is what this class is about, you’re not alone. It hasn’t been taught by itself in many parts of the country for over 50 years. My grandmother, who attended public high school in New York City in the 1930s, recalled attending civics class; by the time my mother went to high school, attending in the same city in the 1960s, civics had vanished.

When I went to high school, in New Jersey in the late 1980s, civics had been rolled into Social Studies, which, in my case, had been rolled into the second semester of Honors U.S. History II. Some actual time, though not nearly enough, was spent on the subject of how the government works, both locally and nationally. Probably the most practical assignment I remember was to visit municipal court to see how it operates.

But a real civics class should include much more. Practical matters, like how to register and vote would be covered, along with detailed explanations of the electoral process and political parties. State and municipal government structures, along with their workings were part of the curriculum, along with basics of the justice system. Monetary structures were covered too.

Basically, “Civics” was instruction in the workings of American government and society. An owner’s manual if you will.

“Geography” is much more than just where everything is located. It’s about what principal goods countries produce, their political and economic climates, their ethnicities, religions, peoples, etc.
In short, the two classes together comprise an owner’s manual to the world, of sorts. Consider them the “how to” book complete with schematic.

Might just be useful today.

A large portion of my job today is attending public meetings. You’d be surprised how many people have no clue how a public meeting even functions. The general public has a vague idea they have the right to be heard, but often little idea when it is appropriate to exercise one’s First Amendment rights (and often, that those are the rights they are exercising). More sadly, members of the public also often lack the skills to express their ideas coherently when their turn comes. Sometimes they even lack the knowledge of how to politely convey their message, turning to rudeness long before the situation warrants it.

A hostile overtone often overcomes the public in these situations—largely, I think, due to the insecurity of not knowing precisely what one’s rights are in front of authority.

Civics education could rectify this. It should be a requirement of every graduating high school student, just like being able to read. Not knowing how the society one is supposed to take part in operates is akin to sending someone out behind the wheel of a car without a license. In theory, we all have a vague idea of how a car operates, but it’s a really good idea to know where the brake, horn and emergency lights are located and how to operate them, as well as knowing that the gas pedal makes the car go forward.

The lack of knowledge of geography furhters the problem by leaving our would-be driver of life without a map, too.

A good modern civics class would also include matters such as how credit and credit cards work, banking, the basics behind loans and mortgages, and how to protect oneself from identity theft, along with the basic workings of modern government, local, state and national.

Government by the people, for the people, can only be an American reality if the people still know and understand how their governement is supposed to operate and where it’s located on planet Earth.

With so much talk of what it means to be American and the importance of patriotism, you’d think giving the next generation an owner’s manual and a roadmap would be a higher priority. The apathy and ignorance that come with leaving more than one generation without are far too expensive to not start handing them out immediately.

(Originally published in The Easton News, August 24, 2006)