Civics Education and Why Civics Is Important

As being part of the nation, it is important to know how to operate within the boundaries of the statutes given by our forefathers. Obedience is a refiner that molds an individual to maintain order and respect. Especially in these current times, some unfortunately have no understanding of civic education and it shows. It seems that there is a growing mentality of lawlessness and rebellion that is partially stemming from the notorious actions of law enforcers. We also have mindsets that either derive from general disobedience with no actual motive, or indifference.

No matter where one stands on this matter, how the individual views it and the perception of other people’s view affect their response and action they take on this issue. A common-but-true-assumption made is that most teens declare that their against the law. That observance is manifested into what the black culture is concerning the eyes of the law today. In fact, The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, since the mid 90s the arrests of black youth have gone down.

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Unfortunately though, their rate is still higher than any other major racial group. With all that said, I do not believe that civic education should be taught in mainstream classes.

While it is fundamental in nature, it’s not essential in direct application to everything we do in daily life. To the average person, The enforcement of civics doesn’t go beyond the necessities of getting a job, applying for license, getting a house things of that nature.

Any interaction with entities that operate within the government is where that knowledge comes in handy. Educators already struggle with the core subjects alone to not only get the students to retain that knowledge but uphold the standards of education within the district and state legislations. Richard Dreyfuss stated in his TEDx Talk that civic education “prepares them (the students to achieve the mobility of mind which, which is the goal of education”. If that’s a worthy definition, then civics is actually a hidden curriculum without the focus of government. In all subjects, the mobility of mind is at hand. Also, with the decreasing attention span of children, it gets increasingly hard to find innovative ways to get the children to respond to what is taught in a way that lets the teacher know you’ve grasped the subject. The education system already has enough flaws that need to be worked out. If any aspect of civil education should be taught, it should be where it’s presence is most. As described earlier with vocations, buying a house, etc. Those in favor of this class may have the wrong focus at hand with good intentions. Instead of perfecting the broken crevices of the structure of education, people would rather fix the more malleable aspects. In fixing these issues, we have a better possibility of producing better citizens. 

Works cited

1. Adler, M. J. (1982). The Paideia Proposal: An Educational Manifesto. Simon and Schuster.
2. Bessette, J. M. (2011). American Government and Politics: Deliberation, Democracy, and Citizenship. Wadsworth.
3. Bingham, L. B. (2016). The Art of Democracy: A Concise History of Popular Culture in the United States. University Press of Kansas.
4. Brown, E. K., & Johnson, J. W. (1921). History of American Education. The Macmillan Company.
5. Colby, A., Ehrlich, T., Beaumont, E., & Stephens, J. (2007). Educating Citizens: Preparing America's Undergraduates for Lives of Moral and Civic Responsibility. Jossey-Bass.
6. Dreyfuss, R. (2011). Richard Dreyfuss addresses Congress about the importance of civics education. TED.
7. Hess, D. E., & McAvoy, P. (2014). The Political Classroom: Evidence and Ethics in Democratic Education. Routledge.
8. Knoester, M., & Au, W. (2019). Teaching for Democracy: Democratic Pedagogy in Action. Teachers College Press.
9. Parker, W. C. (2011). Teaching Democracy: Unity and Diversity in Public Life. Teachers College Press.
10. Westheimer, J. (2015). What Kind of Citizen? Educating Our Children for the Common Good. Teachers College Press.