Where Does Public Education Intersect with Youth Democratic Involvement?
One of the things we have in common, is that many of us have experienced public education in one way, shape, or form. It was where some of us had our first dance, others aced their first debate, some thrived and some still had braces and glasses to grow out of and personalities to grow into. But it was also where all of our malleable brains began developing into believers of some type of democracy. Young intellects, still adaptable like clay to be molded into the shape the curriculum called for that year.
From banning books to vaping in bathrooms, the public education system has taken a lot of unexpected turns in recent years and it raises the question of whether or not teachers should start stepping up in more ways than they have traditionally.
From the perspective of a Gen Z college student, I can tell you I have seen it all. I graduated with people who did not know the difference between a Republican or a Democrat and others who I’m sure I will find running for office soon. I could not tell you one class we took that taught us how to come to these conclusions on our own accord.
The point of a democracy is for “the People” to decide how they want to be governed. This is not just a trait developed later in life (when we are taken off of mom and dad’s healthcare and we navigate how to pay taxes), but when we are discovering who we are in this world. We begin to establish our identity, which coincides with the years we spend in the primary and secondary school systems.
As politically-engaged individuals, our immediate and largest concern is the lack of involvement by younger generations. I can tell you–with a comfortable amount of confidence–that this is because, A: young people aren’t voting because they have no idea what they are voting on, B: they don’t know where to begin thinking about how to find out, or C: nobody is showing them how to figure any of it out, and in many situations, it is all three.
Teachers and the education systems are the biggest assets we have that everyone goes through at one point in their lives. Which is why it should be focused on educating our youth on the autonomy they possess as citizens of the United States, to politically engage themselves in our democracy. Learning how to think is not taught, it is supported. The vast potential of young people is rooted in their education and it may very well be time it was treated as such!
We should teach students about their choice of things like medical treatments instead of prescribing them medications for ailments they receive little to no explanation on, we should teach students about their ability to sit in on Congressional hearings and listen, but most of all we should teach students that they do not need to be “right” or “left,” they can be both or neither. At the end of the day, they have the right to choose. Forcing young people to pick a side causes panic and abstention. Pressure applied too heavily to “do the right thing” leads to the opposite of the final goal; politically engaged youth. All living creatures prosper when given freedom. The potential for young professionals can skyrocket if they are simply aware of the basics of modern government and the extensive rights we are granted as citizens.
If you keep a plant in a pot that’s too small, it will never flourish into its potential, nor will it cultivate seeds to spread its wisdom. But if you plant a seed in the wild there is no telling the capacity it has to proliferate into multitudes of greatness!