Teaching democratic values and the importance of civic responsibility doesn’t seem to be particularly strong in the school system. However, given that so many schools cling to an outdated education model, I don’t find fault with many kids for ending up apathetic. It’s hard to imagine getting excited about learning the importance of civic responsibility and democracy from simply reading a text book.
This is why I’m sending kudos to the province of Ontario’s educational television network for thinking outside of the box and programming a new show called Pillars of Freedom, in an effort to not only entertain, but to educate and engage kids. Additional kudos as you don’t have to be from Ontario to enjoy the program – everything is online.
The show’s creators were inspired (by means of being uninspired by low voter turnouts) to create a multi-platform, interactive show that teaches kids at an early age about democracy and the consequences of choices. Kids aged 6-10 watch the show which portrays two young dragons who are trying to restore freedom to their kingdom, which is suffering from apathy. Viewers are driven online to a “choose your own adventure” series of choices. Within the show’s online community, kids can vote on what they would like to see the animated characters do next, watch previous episodes and play out the roles of the two protagonists via the show’s online game. It is a great example of the kind of programming that a generation which is growing up online is looking for. It’s fun, interactive, educational and puts viewers in the driver’s seat to do what they do best – choose.
I encourage other programmers to start thinking how we can inspire our youngest citizens to want to understand the importance of civic values.
Great post! Reminds me of a project we did with some Romanian teachers about ten years ago. The basis was a belief that an effective way to introduce democratic values into the youth of Romania was through instructional strategies. They truly believed they could change their whole nation by changing teaching practices.
It was a massive and inspirational professional development effort to teach Romanian teachers how to embed true cooperative learning into their instructional practices. Too often we take for granted the “side-lessons” our instructional practices (should) teach.
That's bainwashing! What a normative view on democracy!
No wonder why these kids will try to push democracy further, to places that don't have democracy as a valeu.
What an etnocentric lesson these peole are teaching!
On the theory that it's never too early for kids to become good Democrats, political writer Jeremy Zilber has written a nifty picture book for younger children, “Why Mommy Is A Democrat,” nicely illustrated by Yuliya Fursova. I learned about it after listening to the review found by http://www.mp3hunting.com SE. In the book, a mother squirrel explains why she is a Dem to her children in simple language. On one page she looks on from her tree house window and says “Democrats make sure we all share our toys just like Mommy does,” while the little squirrels play with blocks. On another she says 'Democrats make sure we are always safe, just like Mommy does,” while she shields the little ones from a big, fat elephant walking by. The book is reasonably priced at $10, with further discounts for Democratic organizations and candidates (t-shirts, handbags and teddy bears available also). If your little ones still don't get it after reading the book, just show them a picture of Ann Coulter, preferably not right before bedtime.