This article is from a special report on the Athens Democracy Forum, held in association with The New York Times, where experts gathered in the Greek capital last week to discuss global issues.
Even as the world’s political turbulence deepens, it appears that students are becoming less, not more, informed about civics.
Studies have found that knowledge about the foundations and functions of governments, needed for civic engagement, has diminished globally and that in places like the United States, the punitive nature of modern politics has made it harder to close the gap.
At the same time, the prevalence of news and conversation in daily life about government, politics and civic events makes this a prime time to ratchet up civics education, some experts said, with many advocating for educators to get to students now, when they are listening.
“Democracies have been in different crises for more than 10 years,” said Louisa Slavkova, co-founder of the Civics Innovation Hub, a Pan-European organization founded in 2021 dedicated to civic education. “When democracy deteriorates, you need more and better civic education. If there is a pandemic, you need to send in the nurses and the doctors. It’s the same thing with a democracy crisis — civic educators are the nurses.”
Nationally and internationally, surveys show that students’ knowledge of civics has decreased in recent years, even as access to misinformation and disinformation on social media, television and the internet has proliferated.
In the United States, a drop in civics education can be traced back to the 1960s, when using civics as a tool to assimilate waves of immigrants fell out of favor.
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The post Civics Education Struggles, Even as Government and Politics Saturate Daily Life appeared first on New York Times.
