So our children do not know

their "civics". I am not surprised if they know very little about the way we are governed. They do not get taught that. They do get taught about "issues" of course - "climate change", "racism", "gender", "equal opportunities", "discrimination" and more all seem to be "taught".

Do students at school know where to find the manifestos of the various political parties? Do they understand they need to mark every box on a ballot paper? Do they understand the consequences of doing that? Do they know the names of their current federal and state MPs as well as that of the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition? Do they know their local council and the name of the Mayor?

I could go on. My educated guess is that they know very little about these things. They will know something. They will know what their teachers want them to know, nothing more. 

Many years ago now the Senior Cat was asked to be part of a three person team interviewing young people for Rotary scholarships. I am not sure how this came about as he was not a member of Rotary but he agreed to do the job. He went about it in his usual thorough and thoughtful manner. There was apparently some sort of meeting where standard questions to be asked of all candidates were discussed. The Senior Cat suggested this one, "How are we governed?" 

He was looking for an answer which included local, state and federal forms of government as well as something about the right to vote and the compulsion to attend the ballot box. Rightly it was the chosen candidate who could actually answer that question. He went on to become a member of parliament. The Senior Cat's purpose in asking the question was two fold of course. He wanted to know if the candidate really did know something about the way we are governed and the importance of it. He also wanted them to be confident they could answer questions about the way we are governed in their host country. 

It shocked him to discover that city students knew very little about the way they were governed.  Rural students, the very students who might be expected to know less, knew more. When we thought about it though the answer was obvious. As a kitten in rural schools I knew my local state member of parliament. He might have had children at the school but even if he did not then he would be in and out of the school. He (and yes it was always "he" at the time) would likely be on "the school committee". He came to "sports day" and "speech night" and you saw him out and about even when he had to travel long distances. 

We knew the local council people too. Someone's father would be on it - or even be the Mayor. 

Our federal member might be a bit more distant but the Senior Cat and the staff made sure we knew who it was. I can remember them twice visiting schools I attended.  

I have no idea what goes on in rural schools now but I doubt they get taught as much about the practice and procedures of government as we did. There would not be as much time for that. Other issues would take precedence.

And then there are things like our legal system. Do students know how the courts function? Do they know the purpose of acts of parliament? What do they know about various tribunals or the function of something like the Equal Opportunity Commission or the Environmental Protection Agency?

Perhaps it would be good to teach current students more - if it could be done in a non-partisan manner. Of course some of what we came across was partisan but even the small minority of adults who voted for an alternative knew the local member and saw to it that their children did too. 

Here an educated adult I was talking to yesterday could not recall the name of our local MP. How can we expect children and young people to do that if adults cannot? How can we expect them to vote in an informed way - especially when there is compulsory attendance at the ballot box?