Ideavibes Blog

A document released by the Parliament of Canada focuses on youth civic engagement, how it can be improved and the causes of low youth civic engagement. The article states:

The role of young people as a social and political force is largely a recent feature in Western societies. In the 1960s, opposition to the Vietnam War, the struggle against racial inequality in the United States and the events of May 1968 in France were high points in youth political assertiveness.

Today, however, young people seem to exhibit disengagement from the civic sphere and a general loss of interest in public affairs. This phenomenon has been reported in numerous countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada.

The article notes that “we should not be too hasty to declare this disengagement absolute or irreversible.” This means that there’s still an opportunity to turn youth civic engagement around and make improvements. It’s important to get young people voting and involved in influencing decisions made by all levels of government.

Civic Disengagement

The article references a study by Robert D. Putnam of Harvard University, “Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community,” which lists of some of the factors that may explain youth civic disengagement:

• Demographic factors
• Age group factors
• Technological progress, in areas such as television
• The expansion of governments and the strength of bureaucracies

Tracking Youth Civic Engagement

There has been a lot of discussion about how to improve youth voter turnout rates and getting youth to play a part in their communities. The Parliament of Canada article talks about how civic engagement is shaped by family, school and media. An Inside Higher Ed article by Mitch Smith, “Minutemen and Patriots” reports on an initiative to track civic engagement at public colleges in the state of Massachusetts. Smith writes:

Massachusetts will soon track civic engagement at its public colleges, addressing increased concern that Americans aren’t equipped to impact their communities or interact meaningfully with government.

While it hasn’t been decided exactly how citizenship learning will be evaluated, the Board of Higher Education’s Tuesday vote mandates that civic engagement be measured along with more traditional standards such as graduation rates. Higher education leaders, citing low voter turnout and other measures of civic engagement, have long doubted colleges do enough to prepare students to contribute to society. Eight state college systems now require students to receive some form of civic education, and some individual campuses have made citizen preparation a priority, said Carol Geary Schneider, president of the Association of American Colleges and Universities. She believes Massachusetts is the first state system to mandate that civic engagement at its two- and four-year public colleges be measured and compared to other states.

This movement will be interesting to track. It will be interesting to see the impact that civic engagement education has on actually getting youth voters to the polls and getting involved in their communities, since education is one of the key factors that shape youth civic engagement.