What We Owe Our Children

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor argues that a healthy civil society is built on a foundation of knowledge and understanding. But the responsibilities that come with citizenship are learned, not inherited

By Sonia Sotomayor April 26, 2021

Carnegie Reporter Spring 2021 Citizenship

A few years ago, I met Milena, a high school junior who served as a student judge on Seattle’s Youth Traffic Court. In this role, Milena helped first-time traffic offenders between 16 and 18 years old maintain clean driving records and avoid paying fines. I was struck by Milena’s commitment to her community and understanding of the importance of civic engagement. She was acutely aware of the importance of opportunities to learn about and get involved in the workings of government, especially early on in life. As Milena explained pithily, “Withholding knowledge is injustice.”

Milena’s comment stuck with me, and it rings true now more than ever. A healthy civil society requires peaceful engagement, respectful discussion, and thoughtful action, built on a foundation of knowledge and understanding. Achieving this requires investing in civic education. On this score, the current deficits our society faces are hard to ignore: for example, the National Assessment of Educational Progress found that only 24 percent of eighth graders scored at or above the civics assessment proficiency level. Such severe shortcomings in our students’ education will continue to hamper them as they try to grow into active members of their communities. Overall, our civil society is weakened by these cracks in its foundation.

These deficits have special urgency in today’s political climate. In one sense, many Americans are highly engaged in politics and the workings of government. Voter turnout in the most recent presidential election, for instance, reached historic levels, and political issues have galvanized people of all walks of life, in every part of the country. Even amid the isolation of the pandemic, it sometimes feels as though there is no escaping public discourse, whether through the phone, the computer, or the television. But despite this level of engagement, our civil society has shown serious strains. For instance, while most Americans believe the federal government should play a major role in important areas of policy, just 20 percent actually trust the government to do the right thing. Recent events also remind us that intense engagement alone is not enough: when improperly channeled and guided, it can be destructive and counterproductive.

Many have recognized these challenges and are working to focus national attention on civic education. For example, a cross-ideological coalition of more than 100 scholars, educators, and practitioners under the banner Educating for American Democracy recently announced a road map for reimagining civic education for the 21st century. It is a monumental effort to guide states and local school districts in transforming the way they teach civics and history to meet the needs of a diverse K–12 student body. Their work should be supported and complemented.

My Supreme Court colleague Justice Sandra Day O’Connor has been a pivotal voice in championing civic education. She founded the nonprofit, nonpartisan organization iCivics, which supports and promotes civic education across the country. I sit on its board, and it affords me the opportunity to be an ambassador for the program and to help prepare young people for their civic responsibilities. iCivics aims to make civic education more hands-on and concrete. It offers remote learning activities for educators, families, and students, including online games that allow students to step into the roles of members of all branches of government, legal advocates, and political organizers. It also provides ready-to-use lesson plans, visual aids, and other teaching resources. Currently, iCivics supports the education of more than five million students in all 50 states, primarily in middle and high school, and extending even to higher education. For more information and access to these resources, please visit icivics.org.

Investing in Civic Education for the Health of Our Democracy

The Corporation’s Democracy program makes the case for long-term investment in civic education as imperative to the civic and civil health of the nation

In my role, I pay particular attention to addressing the barriers to education for specific student populations, including those who count English as a second language. One of the ways in which iCivics reaches out to these young students is through the educational games it offers. Games are a wonderful way to make civic education more concrete and fun, and we continually strive to make them engaging and accessible. For instance, many iCivics games have been enhanced with language assistance features, including optional translation, as well as comprehension aids, such as embedded glossaries, infographics, and the “legal eagle” tool, which helps explain legal concepts in ordinary terms. It is essential for civic education to reach all of our children, including the nearly four million American students who are native Spanish speakers, who are often excluded from civic education opportunities. Our work is always ongoing, as new generations of citizens develop each day.

It has been encouraging to see civic participation in the recent election grow. Voter turnout increased in every state across the country (although the total still amounted to only about 62 percent of the voting-age population). I am deeply encouraged by this reaffirmation of the importance of one of the roles we all have to play in our democracy. But the responsibilities of citizenship do not begin or end with casting a vote. None of us can afford to be a bystander in life. Civic participation requires stepping off the sidelines and becoming active in improving one’s community. That might mean being there for a neighbor, reading to those at a nursing home, or caring for others in need. It also means publicly raising important problems that our society faces in peaceful, democratic ways and working toward solutions.

These civic duties and behaviors are learned, not inherited. If the seeds of lifelong, prepared, and engaged participation are not planted in the civic education classroom, they will never grow, and our people’s strong desires to be active in society will not be channeled into productive discourse and real solutions. We owe it to our children and our society to invest in civic education. In light of the challenges we face today, doing so has never been more important.

Sonia Sotomayor has served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States since 2009.

TOP: A view from the National Mall in Washington, D.C., facing the United States Capitol. (Credit: Carter Dayne/Getty Images)