FUELING OUR DEMOCRACY THROUGH STUDENT VOICE!
What is #CivicsForUS?
We believe young people should be equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills to participate in 21st-century civic life.
#CivicsForUS is a national movement to promote civic learning that centers the needs of every young person across the country and promotes the charge that equitable civic education is inclusive, representative, and relevant. The campaign includes a national social media effort and a national listening tour of students from 5th grade through college.
The #CivicsForUS National Listening Tour is the largest effort by students to understand what young people across the nation think about their own civic learning experiences. The Youth As Civic Experts Network students took findings from this effort to support the national social media awareness campaign, their individual projects, student panel discussions. The final report is available on this site.
#CivicsForUS Student Projects
#CivicsForUS Listening Tour
Team Red. Team White. Team Blue.
Youth as Civic Experts students were placed into three teams, Red, White, and Blue, in a friendly competition to see who could gain the most responses to their listening tour surveys. Together these teams collected nearly 5,000 responses from students in almost all 50 states! Check out the results below!
Meet our Team Captains!
Camara Kelly
12th Grade
I think it's important to get a pulse on what students are experiencing in their classrooms so we know what needs to be changed to make civic education more equitable and effective.
Gabriella Stokes
12th Grade
Civic education has been of low concern for many states for far too long. Bringing awareness to the lack of equitable civic education that is available to students in the United States is the first step to creating a just and equitable learning environment for future citizens.
Aruna Bundu
12th grade
There are two things that truly define our country: freedom and equality. Americans need to learn about both especially our future leaders.
Raneen Rehani
12th Grade
Giving students a voice is important especially with the data we have received from students across the country over the span of a month. It is imperative for adults to not only understand how students feel, but to reflect, listen, and make the change that is necessary to make our society 'more perfect' than it is today.
Dhruv Pai
11th Grade
The importance of the civic education campaign and listening tour cannot be understated; students need civic education to become engaged citizens able to affect change.
Morgan Gibson
8th Grade
I believe that this campaign and listening tour are important because they allow us to utilize the thoughts and experiences of students from across the nation in improving civic education.
Anvitha Marlapati
10th Grade
When living in a very advanced and continuously developing society, there has never been a greater need to accentuate the momentous appraise of student voice. Initiatives like the listening tour and student voice campaign augment the remarkable belief that the “youth is our future.”
Keynon Settle
12th Grade
This civic education student voice campaign and listening tour are important because it gives a marginalized demographic the opportunity to express their passions and concerns in concurrence with equipping them with the agency to initiate equitable environments within their communities.
Sophie Li
10th Grade
This civic education student voice campaign and listening tour are important because they showcase student voices, which are frequently neglected. Often, decisions regarding our education, including civic education, are made by the "higher-ups," who are usually adults who have lost touch with the current generation.
Marcus McNeill
11th Grade
This civic education student voice campaign is important because our world is constantly changing and we need to adapt to the times of today and realize that this current generation is the generation that's going to impact our world greatly.
Naisha Phadke
11th Grade
Civic education is very valuable to students because it establishes active citizens. I hope to better civic education because it develops good citizens who know their rights. When people learn, they use it to achieve what they believe in.
Zaira Rehman
11th Grade
I think that it's important for adults to see content from students so they can see current feedback and experiences from the people who are most impacted by the education system. Student voices help to catch the attention of other students, helping to spread awareness and inspire others to use their voice.
Felix Calderon
12th Grade
The biggest enemy of the people is being clueless. We as a group and generation have no choice but to force people to be more educated when it comes to civics. We, as teens, are trying to reach out to our peers about civics, and if we don't do it then our peers won't want to listen to anyone else.
Matt Green
12th Grade
Students aren't often asked what they think, rather what they know. The YACE student voice campaign brings these student opinions to the forefront by directly asking students what they think of their education. The listening tour brings these opinions from students from all across the US- any student, not just those in the highest level classes.
Alexandra Henderson
12th Grade
Students aren't heard as much as they should be, and while that's upsetting, that is one of the flaws of our nation. However, it is important that older generations realize that the youth need to have a say in the world it will be inheriting. There should always be a medium for students to express their feelings or opinions about their education and more importantly, their country.
Participate in this discussion!
Civic education and civic engagement are essential for a sustainable democratic republic. We believe that young people generate great ideas and insights about their learning environments when given the opportunity to share. By gathering insight from youth nationwide, we can better understand gaps in civic education standards and pinpoint solutions to improve civic learning experiences for all.
The #CivicsForUS National Listening Tour is closed but the discussion isn't over! Share your thoughts using #CivicsForUS on social media.
We heard from students 5th graders through college between March and June! Thank you for your part in encouraging young people to share their stories and experiences about civic education. We need your continued help to raise awareness around the importance of equitable civic education and the need for relevant civic learning for all students.
Read the results from the #CivicsForUS Listening Tour below!