Cultivating Civic Spirit Within Youth is a Challenge Democracy Must Meet
Your Turn, N.H.

By Fr. Jonathan DeFelice, O.S.B.
President Saint Anselm College
Commentary Appeared in The Union Leader

April 14, 2003

Over the past several months, I have witnessed a significant number of college students grappling with the weighty issues of war and peace as they form their opinions about the conflict in Iraq. From candlelight vigils to deep questioning of the Democratic Presidential hopefuls who have recently visited Saint Anselm College, students are showing a strong interest in discussing the war. Often they are torn between the strong desire for the peace we all finally hope for and the recognition of the need to support those who are defending our freedom and are helping restore dignity to innocent people who have suffered for so long under a regime so unjust.

I am very much encouraged by the interest and activities that are engaging our students. But I am equally concerned that the commitment to civic engagement could end as soon as the war does.

By now it is a well-known fact that the current generation of young people is voting at levels that have never been lower. According to a new report published by the Carnegie Corporation and the Center for Information and Research on Civic Leadership and Engagement, "Americans under the age of 25 are less likely to vote than either their older counterparts or young people of past decades." This report, The Civic Mission of Schools , also highlights increasing disengagement among young people regarding public policy issues. The current war, however, seems to be an exception to that trend.

Juxtapose this troubling trend with a more hopeful one: Young people are volunteering at record high levels. More so than any generation before them, young people today are quite engaged in community-service projects and direct one-on-one volunteering at service agencies. Developing a service ethic is an important part of being an engaged and responsible citizen; indeed, selfless acts and helping our neighbors in need are important ingredients in creating a morally conscious and caring society. However, service is only part of the engagement that is needed.

I believe that we need to help create a culture that promotes service, responsibility, and citizenship for our young people. Perhaps the most important ingredient in creating citizens who will be engaged for life in active participation in this democracy is the education we provide them about what is required of every individual who lives in it.

We understand and appreciate the rights we are afforded in our democracy. However, we need to better understand the other side of citizenship: that to maintain our democracy, it is necessary for men and women to be committed to its principles and ideals. We must fulfill the serious and noble duty we have as citizens to participate in the building of a just society. Perhaps the current war with Iraq affords us, especially those not serving in the armed forces, an opportunity to think more deeply about our obligations and duties as citizens.

While The Civic Mission of Schools, criticizes rote learning that has long been ineffective in civics classes, it encourages a mixture of approaches that have proven effective for learning how to be an engaged citizen. Clearly, learning must include the history of our country to help young people understand the underlying principles of our great democracy. It falls to us to discover the new and creative ways that motivate our young people to learn and understand the fundamental principles of democracy and to take that learning into their lives.

Exploring some of these possibilities and the ways in which service, responsibility, and citizenship can be connected will be the focus of the New Hampshire Summit on Civic Leadership today at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College. Superintendents, principals, student leaders, policymakers, and college academic officers will be gathering to explore the status of civic education in New Hampshire and begin a dialogue on how our state can better prepare and inspire our students to be engaged citizens.

While we can celebrate the selfless service of our young people, it may be our greatest service to help them make some new connections: to political responsibility, to active participation in the lives of our communities, to acquiring the wisdom that living in a democracy demands of the ordinary person.

The summit today is part of a much larger undertaking; one of enormous importance at this time in the history of our country. There is so much promise in our young people; and there is so much at stake for our state, our nation, and the world in which we live. Democracy requires the best from all of us; may we be democracy's champions.