Teaching the Responsibilities of Citizenship (continued)

There is a clear need to improve the learning of young Americans about their responsibilities as citizens of a democratic society. Parents and school teachers must act in concert to strengthen the desire and capacity of children for performance of civic obligations. 

What can be Done at Home?

Parents and guardians are the child's first and most influential teachers of civic values and attitudes. Lessons learned at home about political participation or community service, for example, are likely to set the terms and tone for later learning about these responsibilities of citizenship. 

Parents and guardians can enhance the child's learning of citizenship responsibilities by doing the following things at home. 

• Set a good example by participating in the political system and volunteering for community service projects. 
• Show interest in civic affairs and government through initiation of conversations at dinner time or in response to television programs about current events. 
• Require children to perform duties regularly at home as lessons in the value of contributing to the common good of their family unit. 
• Encourage children to take part in community service projects, such as neighborhood clean-up or beautification activities, re-cycling of materials to conserve natural resources, and tutoring of younger children with learning problems. 
• Provide civic learning resources in the home--books, magazines, newspapers--and use them with children. 
• Transmit and reinforce the civic values of our constitutional democracy through discussions, exemplary behavior, and use of fair rules for orderly family life. 
• Monitor and reinforce at home lessons in school about the responsibilities of citizenship. 

What can be Done at School?

After the family, the school has a major effect on the civic attitudes of children. It is the primary agency for teaching knowledge about politics and government. Examples are presented below about how to enhance education about citizenship responsibilities at school. 

• Increase the amount of time that all students are involved in civic education at all levels of school. 
• Infuse lessons about the responsibilities of citizenship into all subjects of the curriculum at all levels of schooling, with special emphasis in the social studies and literature courses. 
• Require students to read, analyze, and discuss cases and stories about people involved in the civic life of their communities in the past and present. 
• Establish cooperative learning experiences in which groups of students take responsibility for their own achievement of educational objectives. 
• Involve students in simulations and role playing activities about various aspects of civic responsibilities. 
• Establish school-based programs for performance of community service as a regular part of the civics curriculum. 
• Emphasize lessons about the civic values of our constitutional democracy at all levels of schooling through role modeling, reading and writing assignments, and open discussion of public issues and current events. 
• Make assignments that require students to write letters to government officials or newspapers to advocate opinions about public issues and policies. 
• Make assignments that require students to participate in political activities outside the classroom. 

Where can Information and Materials be Obtained About how to Teach Responisble Citiizenship?

Information and materials on how to teach rights and responsibilities of citizenship can be obtained from the organizations or centers listed below.