We need a 10-year plan to teach people about voting....

[kentuck]

We should start in the third grade and go all through high school. Civics has become a forgotten subject in our schools. Kids need to be taught at a young age about their civic responsibility and why people need to vote. The third grade seems like a good place to start.

By the time they graduate from high school, they should be knowledgeable about our Constitution, our Bill of Rights, the Voting Rights Act, etc. It is a long-time project and liberals should look at it as the big picture. This has become necessary to cope with the Republican propaganda machine that has taken over our country.

People should be educated when they go to the polls. They should understand how our system works and why they need to vote. Our system of government depends on citizen participation. We need to put civics back into our classrooms.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

1. Civics?

:think:

[CrispyQ]

2. Start with this book from Thom Hartman:

http://www.we-the-people-book.com/

A great book about civics written in a comic book fashion.

[LiberalFighter]

3. Republicans don't want voters that know what they are doing.

[NNN0LHI]

4. I read a study by the military that was trying to gauge the intellectual maturity of new recruits

I can't find this study on the internet for the life of me. I read a printed copy of it during the late 70's or early 80's? I think the study was done during the 50's or 60's though?

Basically what they were trying to find out how to design new military hardware such as tanks, rifles, etc., for the new recruits coming into the service. They didn't want to design a bunch of new weaponry that when used in an actual battle situation the soldiers would not be capable of operating the stuff.

Want to know what the study came back with? They discovered that boys, generally stop maturing intellectually around the age of 14. It was a little higher for girls, but not a lot.

You are right kentuck, we need to start this at a very early age. Parent should be stressing this to their children on a regular basis when they are very young. I did this and both my children vote every chance they get.

Good post.

Don

[LeftinOH]

5. My HS Civics teacher ranted about Jane Fonda -when he wasn't recapping

the previous weeks' football game with the alpha males. I don't recall learning *anything* in Civics.

[HappyMe]

6. That's a great idea -

which is why it probably won't ever happen.



rec

[Honeycombe8]

7. They should also be taught about finances, appreciation for the arts, & economics.

And don't forget reading and writing and 'rithmetic.

But they barely know how to read these days (or at least, that's what I've read).

[demosincebirth]

10. How about the history of labor in America?

[Honeycombe8]

14. That would fall into the category of history of America. Which should be taught, also.

As well as the history of industrialization and entrepreneurship in America (if you're going to cover labor, the whole picture should be covered, I think).

[duhneece]

8. Start with Howard Zinn

People's History of the US.

[sinkingfeeling]

9. That's where I was taught that voting and paying taxes were the cost of being a democracy. Think

they changed the books since then.

[YvonneCa]

12. No, they have the books...

...NCLB just prevented their use in some (Title 1, low-performing) schools. :(

[YvonneCa]

11. As a teacher, I couldn't agree more. I DO have...

...a few observations, gathered over the years. ;)

1. Not all kids are lucky enough to have a parent who instills respect for democracy, the importance of responsible citizenship (the value AND duties thereof), and voting rights education in their children. For a variety of reasons. So, fairly or not, the responsibility does fall on the schools...or it isn't taught.

2. The pressure placed on Title I public schools by NCLB pretty much guaranteed that civics education would not be a priority...reading and math became all that was taught.

3. FWIW, here in California...and in many other states...the standards to be taught have always included history/social science (K - 12) ...although the emphasis has not necessarily been to teach voting rights, or how to be a responsible citizen. Grade apporpriate curriculum exists in many states. Teachers just need to be re-empowered to teach those standards. (In my district, a teacher colleague used to talk about teaching 'illicit social studies'...). :7 Seriously, we were written up for teaching it...me included...which is part of why I retired when I did.

[kentuck]

13. I wondered about that...

There are people that do not want civics taught to the children, for political reasons. Thanks for your post!

[YvonneCa]

16. While I think that is true of some people...

...and maybe even some school organizations, the motivation in my district was probably NCLB and the sanctions risked if AYP was not met. $$$ is attached to that. :(

[Lionessa]

15. Unless you also teach how useless voting seems to be these days

with our pols being bought up as soon as they are elected if not sooner, you'd be essentially lying to them by telling them that their vote matters. Between the pols being bought and paid for and the election frauds from voter suppression, to the Supreme Court picking the pres, to Citizens United ruling... we the people, we the voters don't matter anymore at all it seems.

[Neurotica]

17. My 13-yr-old has civics and made a passionate speech today about every vote counting

His civics teacher seems excellent. They have a lot of discussions and debates. Today the kids were divided into groups and each group had to defend a particular stance on voting ages. His group had to explain and defend the benefits of potentially allowing 16-year-olds to vote (this wasn't their choice, and obviously it's not something actually under consideration; it was just a critical thinking assignment).

When it was his group's turn to present, my son explained and justified his group's position. Someone else tried to negate their position by saying that not many 16-year-olds would vote so why bother giving them the right. My son pointed to a poster in the room that listed races in which one vote made a difference and made a passionate speech about every vote counting. Even if only one 16-year-old voted, it could be the difference maker. He said his counterpart in another group couldn't figure out how to respond to that!

BTW, in our county, 8th grade history is almost entirely civics, with economics covered in the last quarter.