Over the past few decades, there has been a steady concern that the USA is facing its nadir in civic and political activity, particularly among the youth. The initial activity that was associated with the youth has now receded to indifference, with statistics pointing to invariably low follow-up of political debates amongst the 18 to 25 year olds.
The fact that colleges as the focal institutions for civic engagement is failing cannot be overstated. We are aware that only one-half of the youth will attend college and roughly one-third of the youth will have dropped out of high school. It is deductible that the latter will be more disengaged from civic and political intrigues than their college going peers. Schools will not have any significant role in developing the youth’s civic responsibility once they have opted out. There is, therefore, a pressing need to identify ways that will bolster civic agency of young people not attending school.
Relevant Alternatives
Luckily for the youth, there are numerous institutions that can capture the unattended youths. These institutions include volunteer programs for the youth, the military, prisons, community intervention programs and colleges, Youth Build and other AmeriCorps programs. Political parties should also strive to develop programs that are aimed at increasing the youth’s interest in civic discourse on a continuous basis and not only during election campaigns. The entertainment media also offers a viable forum to reach out to the youth.
In addition to widening the institutional basis for civic training, special interest should be taken to develop the ability of those hitherto understudied like immigrant youths, the transgender and those whose sexual orientation is considered a minority. In this pursuit, civic leaders need to ensure that they ask the right questions. The traditional measures of civic knowledge are inadequate in the modern context of societal challenges. The youth’s voice should be made to ring louder.
References
Goodnow, F. (2009). Politics and Administration: A Study in Government. In J. Shafritz, Classics of Public Administration. New York: Cengage Learning.
Rosen, M., Wolff, J., & Mackinnon, C. (2006). Political Thought. New York: Oxford University Press.
Schaffner, B. F. (2010). Politics. New York: Cengage Learning.
