I am still reading this wonderful book called How to Raise a Citizen by Dr. Lindsey Cormack. Today I learned that we (Colorado) are one of the few states that demands a year-long civics course to graduate. Cormack stated that the Colorado Dept. of Education “…developed a set of vocabulary, skills, questions, and content for use in the classroom.”
Unfortunately, the old joke is that the teacher that is usually assigned to teach civics is named “Coach.” That is the person who has an off-season to teach the class. While some coaches are fantastic (I can name a few my son had in middle school and high school), others are just going through the rhetoric and teaching them how to take a test. There is no passion about this subject, and the students may pass the class, but never take it to heart on how to actually be a part of the political world. They may not understand the local political system and how to be involved in it. They may not know how to even register to vote (as evidence from the last election, students showed up at the polls and realizing they had not registered to vote so were turned away). This was disheartening to many young people, and that bad experience may influence their future participation. Some schools take up the mantle and work through the process, sometimes having the County registrars show up at the beginning of the year to the school.
The other service that is valuable in our community is the Youth Advisory Board. Students from grades 6-12 can participate in local government and learn about how the system works. I encourage parents to check this out and help their children become better citizens. Yes, sports are important, but this is life-changing knowledge that will help them navigate the political world, making their own decisions on how they want to be governed. For more information, go to the City of Louisville website and check it out! https://www.louisvilleco.gov/local-government/government/boards-commissions/youth-advisory-board
I know it’s a hard thing for parents to navigate their child’s needs at the time they need them, but parents need to be more informed and have conversations with their children at an early age on how our government should work. Kids should start learning when they are young what Democracy means. Parents, we have to step up, learn something new, and then pass it on to our children and grandchildren. And grandparents, if you are stepping in as a caregiver, stop drinking the Kool-Aid. (Look it up!) Stop giving misinformation to your grandchildren. Let the parents work with the information necessary to teach their kids how to be proper citizens. They may not agree with your views. That is their prerogative. Enough said.
I love you all and still hoping you will join me in creating peace and changes to the world!
School in the 1960s was a combination of what we saw as ancient teachers who instructed our mothers and relatives – FACTS are FACTS! – and an introduction to innovative ideas from a student teacher who came out of the university for a semester. The old-school teachers taught facts and memorization. The exciting new teachers had a broader base in mathematics and science. Although we had some wonderful literature and art teachers in our midst, the math and science teachers were lacking.
There were no computers or calculators. All the calculations had to be done by hand. We still had slide rules in science! The early calculators were large and expensive and most of the rural areas didn’t have the equipment. I finally bought my first calculator which only did basic computations in my second year in college. It was a Texas Instruments SR10 which cost over $100.00 (a lot of money for me when you considered I made $2.50 an hour at my part-time job and gasoline was $1.00 a gallon)!
Since my primary education years, the drill and practice routine continued through high school. While I think some of these exercises are important, math and science must be as exciting to the student as the arts were in those days.
My curious nature kept me excited about all subjects, so I embraced and loved the research side of things, especially after high school. I competed in the local and state science fairs for two years in high school. The trip to the State Science Fair was great because you got out of school for the week! Although I never won first prize, I placed third in my area for my project, Crystals and Crystallization, and got to meet all the kids who were just like me! It was an exciting time. Years later, when I saw the movie October Sky, I would remember the feelings Homer had in participating in science in the making! Those were my people.
Years ago, I talked to my mother a lot about my dreams and read the things she had collected over the years. I read voraciously and would live in the library if I could. In one of my primary report cards, my mother commented that I would always bring my books home and read them to all members of my immediate family and my mother’s sisters who lived on the same road. Each time I went to the library and checked out a book, I would run up the road and read it to the aunts. They were my mentors during those primary years.
I was also in the band (since fifth grade) and played the clarinet. We had a small orchestra and performed concerts each year during Christmas and at the end of the year. Thinking back to those days, I was simply good at reading music and had rhythm. I don’t know if I could have gone on and created musical compositions or studied music as my lifetime achievement. But today, I have attended concerts put on by the middle school, high school, university, or even to the Denver symphony and relived those blissful memories in the performances these amazing people can give to us. My appreciation for music is the same even if I lapsed in my own practice.
In the Deep South (in my day), things move a little slower, unless you are living in a major metropolitan city. In my neck of the woods, I was a small child in a large world. I lived out in the country, far away from even the small cities, where my girlfriends lived. If I wanted to go anywhere for parties, I had to beg for rides from them or someone who could drive. This became disconcerting when I had dedicated events at school. It was up to me to get there most of the time.
I remember that I really disliked social studies and history – these classes were simply a lot of fill in the blanks. The athletic coaches usually taught these classes, and they weren’t always the best choice for these subjects. There was no excitement in learning about dates and battles and learning facts for tests. I didn’t get great grades in those junior high years (but who does?). I wanted more and would not revisit these subjects with any interest until my senior/adult years. (My husband says I am like every old man talking about books from the world wars. It is one of my current fascinations, and it is not just about the dates! But, more on that later!)
What I do remember of my junior high years was that it was a period of awkwardness and socialization. When the hormones kick in, the brain functions on a totally different level! Our parents were not as prepared to deal with these subjects, and we believed that they never really understood what we were going through.
Today, these feelings are still there. Children are just going through them in a very loud and public way. They turn to the media because sometimes parents just don’t know how to listen to them. They become more isolated because of this same media and their lack of social skills. They believe the media presence instead of the adult. Most parents have been given a certain societal mold by their parents of what their children should conform to. Realistically, parents must change their thoughts and learn to accept what is put in front of them and what their child is becoming. However, having said all of that, I do think parents should also be given a little more credit than what we gave our parents. They are more informed today due to that same media and open discussions. So, this cranky old one would like to give you young people some advice. We sometimes have more knowledge about these subjects than you give us credit for! It’s okay to listen to us about some things that are important to you.
It is my hope that we recognize what teenagers are going through today and have open and honest conversations about who they are inside. Acceptance is hard if your child is different than the norm. It takes time, but you can do it if you are open-minded and don’t let your past cloud your judgement. So read, learn, and talk about these subjects before they leave the nest. I send love out to the universe and hope you can all reach the stars!
-Stay tuned about socialization and more on math in Part III!
Dru Tieben's Writing Corner 