A study conducted by Chapman University discovered that in recent years, fear in Americans has reached an all time high. Harvard’s Institute of Politics found that 64% of young adults were much more fearful than hopeful for the future of democracy in the United States. The American Psychological Association placed that number closer to 77%.
Objectively, current students are growing up in unprecedented times. The US economy is becoming increasingly unstable, the US political climate is becoming increasingly tense and students are feeling increasingly lost in how they view their surroundings. Often, I find myself naturally turning to school to help me process the turmoil our nation is facing. However, rather than receiving the assistance we’re seeking, students across the country are at the mercy of administration and staff who fear the effects of political retaliation. In truth, schools are no longer a place for the outside world, and it feels like there’s not much that can be done about it.
One place that political debate may have occurred in previous years was in the social science department of high schools. Current California social science standards focus almost exclusively on our past, with a minor focus on subjects such as economics and political science. The College Board website has set the US History curriculum from 1491 to the present, yet the information in our textbooks is a lot less current than it claims.
This was made further evident through a 2024 report published by thenext100.org that explored how voters between the ages of 18 to 40 felt about the state of US democracy. They concluded that 73% of respondents did not feel hopeful about the future of American democracy. However, the majority of these respondents had no idea why they felt that way. Additionally, less than one-third of respondents considered themselves politically active, with some individuals citing a lack of political knowledge or interest as reasons.
At first glance, this seems like a pressing issue with a relatively easy solution: just teach students about politics and problem solved, right?
Sadly, it’s not that simple. Various investigative pieces have shown that educators are uncomfortable with teaching controversial topics, parents are uncomfortable with having political lessons taught and administrations are uncomfortable with the backlash that comes with supporting political education. No one is willing to take the chance, and for good reason.
World politics are changing every day in ways that often drastically affect millions of people. They are serious and heavy topics that come along with serious and heavy opinions. In an age where one’s identity is often inseparably bound to their political beliefs, schools and families understandably want to avoid such confrontations. Yet ironically, civic debate is precisely what we need in our classrooms, as this type of dialogue encourages students to evaluate the problems in order to collaborate with their peers on solutions.
Regardless, the problems of the world today are going to be left for our generation to solve. However, if schools can no longer provide opportunities to create safe spaces for political discussion, students are left to figure this out on their own through their own avenues. American politics in the classroom has become an unbreakable cycle of more problems than solutions.
While the future of America still looks bleak to at least 77% of our generation, this article wasn’t written to instill only worry. The solution may look and feel impossible, but what if the answer to the problem has been right in front of us this whole time? If our community can once again begin to separate the politics from the person, then we may be able to have these discussions in the classroom once more. Until then, we cannot fix the issues if we can’t even discuss the problems in the first place.
