Why are so many students apathetic and/or ignorant when it comes to political knowledge and the basic structure of our government? Is it as simple as "dull teaching" and an "overreliance on textbooks" as Sansone claims? In his article "Get your Students Involved in Civics", he provides a very structured formula for getting students to form a political identity and understand various issues and concepts. I think it's helpful for students to have the framework for how to dissect issues and arguments. But I also believe, much like Sansone, that the only true way that students will take a vested interest in these issues and their civic duties is to engage in a relevant discussion of these topics themselves. I remember talking to my parents about issues at home, and walking away with a much better understanding of why each side held a certain belief. The classroom can provide a more neutral ground for students developing a political identity. The issues don't even have to be particularly controversial- anything that can be argued is a potentially valid topic.
The author points out that adolescents are actively forming their social identity but not their political one, unlike the youth of the 1960s. For many students in high school today, the social identity forms out of necessity. They are faced with questions of how their peers perceive them each day. But they can ignore their political identity with little consequence on their daily routine (unlike the 1960s youth who faced the possibility of war). I think teachers should try to impress upon students the relevancy of issues in their lives. The author provides details on the debate over National Health Insurance. Rather than just learning about what each side argues, students can be impacted if they know how certain changes can directly affect their lives and their families. Instead of just teaching facts from a textbook, the classroom should always serve as an open forum to discuss the issues in an authentic way.
