Real Life Lesson in Democracy

By Jan Goehring

Caucuses in Colorado were all the buzz last night as community members turned out in record numbers--many for the first time. A second grader at my son's school planned to attend with his father. When I asked if he was going to learn about how our democracy works, he smiled and nodded enthusiastically. His dad added, "I'm going to learn, too." Now, that's a civics lesson.

And more civics lessons for our young citizens are important. Lee Hamilton, Director of the Center on Congress at Indiana University points out in a recent commentary that, "as a society we're not especially good at encouraging young people to become involved in political life." Students learn to volunteer in community activities, but the political aspects are often overlooked. Unfortunately, most young people do not have an adequate knowledge of how our political system works. Mr. Hamilton calls for "a cultural change in our schools and our communities that sees an adequate civic education as being every bit as important as math and reading, and that encourages students to participate in the everyday life of our political system. There is no better way of ensuring that our democracy remains healthy from one generation to the next."