Civics Education

I’ve recently read a couple of articles about Nebraska and Minnesota lately addressing the need for more civics education classes.

I remember when I started teaching on the high school level that students were required to take a government class in order to graduate. I don’t really know why they took this requirement out but it is really important for students to learn this information.

Students are not born knowing what their civic responsibilities are and unless we teach them while they are in school, they may never learn.

Each year during election time, I hear that fewer people get out to vote. I’m afraid it will end up like the saying goes, “use it or lose it.” Each year more and more of our rights are eroding away because people are not exercising their right to vote in order to get changes made in our government. I see a lot of apathy and misunderstanding but I feel it is society’s fault for allowing the young people to grow up with this perspective.

If we hope to have a better nation, then we need to start teaching our children how important it is to be involved in what is happening in our government. This might mean running for office or campaigning for a candidate that has the same values that the student believes in. It also includes being knowledgeable about current events and issues that affect everyone in our nation. Everyone who votes can make a difference in who gets elected which can affect what policies and laws are made in our country. We have to teach our students these things.

People shouldn’t run around and complain about our country and the way it is run if they don’t vote during election time. They shouldn’t complain about our taxes or laws if they aren’t willing to research the issues before electing legislators who will vote on these items.

I’m hoping that more and more states will recognize the need for civics education in all classrooms. I believe it should be a requirement before any student graduates from high school.

How do you feel about Civics Education? Please share.

Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash

Erosion of Our Rights

Recently in the news, there has been a lot of reporting about gun control. President Obama used his executive order to pass some gun control laws. I have some friends in favor of tighter gun control laws and other friends who are not in favor of these laws. I’m not here to debate about the laws but it seems to me that when we pass these types of laws, it only affects the law abiding citizens. The criminals, who weren’t going to follow any laws anyway, will not be affected by these type of laws. They will find a way to buy guns on the black market so the only ones limited from guns will be the law-abiding citizens.

By passing laws using his executive order, President Obama bypassed the legislature. This concerns me greatly because I feel that we have a 3 branch government (legislative, judicial, and executive) for a reason. The reason is so that we can have checks and balances. By overriding this checks and balance system, it feels more like a dictatorship than a democracy. What if he decides to pass some other law that he wants to pass? Isn’t this what Hitler did? How is this no different than a dictator deciding to do what he wants to do? I have to say, these times scare me.

Slowly little by little I feel that many of our rights have disintegrated. I know that many things have been implemented in the name of national security but I’m not sure all these measures have been necessary. Then as we have less and less rights, we become used to this and are complacent about this loss. Again, isn’t this how Hitler got so powerful?

I hope I’m wrong about the future because I do not want to see the same situations repeated as they happened in the past. I’m not sure what I can do about it other than sending a message through my votes. I do not plan on voting for the incumbents because I feel they are part of the problem. They get too comfortable in their positions and start playing politics for their own good rather than representing their constituents. When a new person gets elected and doesn’t do a good job, I will vote for someone new.

Have you noticed about our decrease in rights? If so, how will you fight against this? Please share.