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As we enter the twenty-first century, there is a serious lack of civic, political, and
electoral participation by America’s youth. The sense of civic engagement in ones own
community does not exist as it has in the past. We see today that the youth of America no
longer has the drive to change the world around them, seeking instead to party, surf the
Internet, or sit in front of the television, watching other people play out their lives. This is
why we, as a society, should continue to encourage the push for liberal arts degrees and
not solely focus on career oriented colleges and programs. Liberal arts programs continue
to challenge students to think about how they can contribute to their community through
various forms of civic participation. It is through this process that we can hope to increase
the civic engagement of today’s youth.
In the past twenty years, a college education has become increasingly necessary in
order to secure a well-paid entry-level position upon graduation. It is unfortunate that this
has happened, as there is no longer an emphasis on attending college for the purpose of
increasing ones knowledge and learning more about the world around you. Obtaining an
undergraduate degree should not focus solely on preparing you for a specific career.
Instead, it should prepare you for the different challenges that you will face upon your
entrance to the “real world.” By exposing students to these various factors, they will learn
how to interact with the diverse world that is now emerging. This additional education
will help increase the amount of civic participation that they engage in. Having
institutions that provide a liberal arts education creates a large amount of young people
that have a stake in the society around them and who will ultimately contribute to it in a
positive way.
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Even with an increasing amount of citizens with liberal arts degrees, America still
has a problem when it comes to civic participation. A strategy has to be developed in
order to encourage voting, issue based advocacy, local organization participation, and
other forms of civic engagement. The simple answer would be for the government to
require people to participate in various ways. This would not work in the United States as
we are a free society and therefore, if you do not wish to participate in civic society, you
are not required to. We must then look to developing a way in which people participate
willingly in society. I will use the example of volunteer fire departments, of which I am
personally connected to, in order to demonstrate that civic engagement is still possible in
local communities. Volunteer fire departments have been the epitome of civic
engagement in the United States. Made up of local citizens who participate on their own
time without pay, volunteer firefighters help their local communities by putting out fires,
rescuing people from crashes, assisting during storms, and solving any other problem
where help is needed. The basic form of civic participation today is volunteering and it is
essential to any successful society. I am not suggesting that everyone run out and become
a volunteer firefighter, but it is just one example of how you can give back to the
community that you live in.
To effectively create a society that is rich in civic engagement, we can approach it
by asking the question of how to incorporate it into the undergraduate college programs
that so many people receive now. The traditional ways have always been to push students
to accept internships in their area of study or to encourage extracurricular volunteering.
These kinds of programs are very good in preparing students for life after college but I do
not believe they go far enough. Currently, outreach programs such as volunteering or
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internships are only taken advantage of by a limited amount of students. If more time
were invested in the development of programs designed to increase civic participation
among students, there would be an increase in interest. Partnerships with local and state
governments could be used in order to increase political efficacy. Other strategies such as
rewarding students for giving back to society, encouraging capstone student reflections,
and direct engagement from either the college professors or administrations in charge of
the program would work well to increase the undergraduate experience toward civic
society. Through these programs, undergraduate students would be able to develop
experience, skills, knowledge, and values.
Participation is key to affecting democracy and without it, we are powerless to
effect change in the realms of work and education. If there is no concerted effort to draw
attention to potential problems in our society, they will go unnoticed and unchanged. In
order for the American civic society to remain vibrant and flourishing, we must have
citizens who create new ideas and form groups to speak as one. If people are unhappy
with characteristics of the current educational system and workplace, they must realize
that the only way to change things is by working together. By targeting undergraduates
working towards a liberal arts education degree, we can begin to develop sections of
society that willingly contribute to civic society. It is this group of people that are most
likely to encourage civic participation among others, whether it be their family, fellow
workers, or friends.
A civic education is an important factor towards developing a society that is able
to evolve and change constantly. Education provides the basis for creating a group of
people in society that realize they have a stake in things and are able to realize the
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importance of civic engagement. Education, social programs on the local and state levels,
and other methods can be used to draw people in. While American society desperately
needs to increase its amount of civic participation, we should look to this era as a time
when we can begin a ground up formation of a new civic society, one that we have not
seen since the 1950s of the post World War II era and 1960s counter-culture. More and
more students are choosing to attend liberal arts colleges and it is precisely this group that
should be targeted. With a little help from professors, administrators, local politicians,
and private organizations, I believe we will be able to reinvigorate the once vibrant
American civic society, both politically and non-politically.