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Whatever happened to Civics? When did it disappear from the curricula of our public schools? And why?

Civics was never a popular subject with most of the kids I knew in school, count me among them, but the adult me is thankful it was offered. In fact, not only was civics offered when I was in school, it was a required subject.

According to Education Week (www.edweek.org), California no longer requires the successful completion of a civics exam in order to graduate from secondary school. Interestingly, the state of Alabama, by comparison, does list the passing of a civics exam among their requirements for graduation.

US civics is a requirement in 19 states, but students aren’t required in all cases to pass these courses in order to graduate. Some states use a version of the 100-question test given immigrants seeking citizenship status to assess proficiency in civics.

On top of that, partly as a result of policy changes such as No Child Left Behind, schools in the US today teach to the lowest common denominator, which not only lessens the quality of education overall but also fails to teach children the art of critical thinking.

Given the diminished priority assigned civics in today’s classroom, is it any wonder so few voters actually understand how government works?

Whoever came up with the idea of diminishing the importance of teaching government courses should have kept that thought to themselves. Because of this inane decision, many people today have a poor understanding of how government works, the current occupant of the White House being a prime example. While this may serve the Republican Party by making it easier for them to prey on peoples’ ignorance of government through the use of propaganda designed to keep their party in power, it is a shortsighted approach that makes the future of the republic uncertain. How are citizens supposed to make wise decisions at the ballot box if they don’t possess the basic understanding of government necessary to envision how their votes will impact their futures?

One need look no further than the election of trump to comprehend the peril inherent in the creation of an electorate so ignorant and gullible as to choose a candidate so supremely unqualified for office.

The future of our experiment in democracy lies in our children. If the experiment is to succeed, its success will depend on how well we have prepared our children to carry on into the future those ideas that define our democracy. In order for them to accomplish that, they first have to understand what it is they are supposed to protect, how its protection will ensure them bright futures and why those institutions created to support the construct are important to its continued success.

If any of this has a chance to succeed, we must first prepare our children for the tasks that lie ahead. We must restore civics classes to their former position in the  curriculum, both in the primary and secondary levels, and we must provide adequate funding to ensure these classes continue into perpetuity.

Tim Konrad