Some have asked why I take so much time to visit schools, talk about civic engagement and the future leadership of our city? To me it is obvious because I understand that, as Mayor, I am a bridge between generations and the next generation will have the responsibility to lead. I am going to do my personal best to help them prepare for this awesome opportunity and the challenges of leadership in the future. Unfortunately, with the ratings of elected officials at an all time low, there are few examples for them to follow, to teach them about engagement, about civil conversation, about consensus building and collaboration..
Last year Noel Tillman, Scott Shipsey, Amelia Cromer and representatives from middle schools in northern Beaufort County led what became, because this is the name the students chose, "Beaufort Youth Leadership." It was a six month pilot project which we believed was beneficial to the students.
In the next few weeks, we will be launching year two which will run throughout the full academic year. We hope to have all ten middle schools represented by a diverse group of four seventh and eighth grade students from each school.
If by chance you have or know a child who could benefit from this experience you may want to suggest that he or she talk with the school's leadership.
Because I think about this frequently, I found the following very meaningful and hope you do as well.
Civic disengagement a problem we must address
OPINION COMMENTARY
By Larry N. Gerston | 5 p.m. Aug. 1, 2015
Extracted from The San Diego Tribune
Increasingly, federal agents are rounding up young adults who have become self-radicalized members of Muslim terrorist organizations committed to the demise of the United States. We have also seen increasing domestic terrorism centered on basic anti-American values, racial bigotry, and other forms of intolerance, most recently witnessed in South Carolina.
It's hard to imagine why someone would be so alienated from the American political system to the point that they would assault innocent victims, be they at the Chattanooga military recruitment centers or Murrah Federal building in Oklahoma City, yet we can identify at least part of the reason: these people have not been socialized into American democratic norms, a task historically carried out by the education systems.
We've been so busy cramming "how to" knowledge into students' minds that we have left behind instruction, discussion and contemplation of the key values and political concepts that frame our society.
Studies show that about three-quarters of all U.S. students are not proficient in civics; they simply don't understand American democracy because we haven't taken the time to teach them. Typically, the closest most students get to civic education these days is a twelfth grade government course where the "high point" comes from mundane experiences like memorizing state capitals or reciting constitutional amendments. Sadly, fundamental concepts such as freedom, equality, tolerance, consensus, rights and obligations are no longer broached in most classrooms because of the lack of time to consider such topics in the course of a school day. Yet these are the very tenets that help us understand who we are, how we belong, and the ways we can interact constructively and positively with other members of society.
Without this sense of belonging, some students feel powerless, disconnected and uninvolved. These traits of alienation develop early and are likely to frame their lives as adults. Once in the real world, some will cast about for the root causes of their problems. Feeling left out and detached, these alienated people look for the quick solution, often in the form of violence and other forms of extremist behavior.
It doesn't have to be this way. Numerous programs exist to connect students with the world through civic engagement, and they can be utilized from the earliest elementary school grades through high school and college. These programs emphasize the importance of national community, connectedness and respect for all members of society. They often include role-playing and other means of interaction in a safe education environment. With hands on projects, students can see how the American political system works, how they can be part of it, and how they can improve their lives as well as the lives of others.
Civic education instruction provides impressive results. Students who are taught key American values tend to feel more efficacious, are more willing to confront policymakers in proactive ways, and are more likely to vote as adults. In other words, they feel connected with society rather than ostracized from it.
Despite the benefits of civic education, few schools take the time to implement these programs because the time commitments decrease opportunities for "how to" education, whether it is in science, technology, engineering and math, or other disciplines with single answers to any problem. Clearly, STEM programs are critical to competing in today's world, but they shouldn't exist to the extent that they diminish the opportunities for civic education, which can provide the much-needed foundation of our democratic values.
It would be folly to suggest that civic education eliminates all forms of radicalism. Young people have many cues that form their lives ranging from family to peers to the Internet. Still, this education tool can be a powerful instrument for providing a much-needed framework for citizenship.
Democracy doesn't come in the form of a pill; it doesn't emerge because we toss around the term casually in idle conversation.
Rather, democracy must be learned, cultivated and practiced. It's an ongoing belief system that can only remain in place if we nurture the concept from generation to generation.
Civic education can provide the critical link between young people and their world. To ignore the opportunity will place democracy at risk - a risk we cannot afford.
Gerston is professor emeritus of political science at San Jose State University.
