Letter: Schools should teach the basics of politics

Much of our youth doesn’t understand how politics work, in addition, many of them don’t accept the turnout of elections. What is at the root of this void in political knowledge observed in the youth of America? Many believe that our K-12 education system emphasizes very little to nothing on how national, local, and international governments work.

I believe that schools should teach about local and national government as soon as first to second grade. Arguments against teaching politics in secondary schools is that the material is too complex; but just as we teach the basics of science and math, we should also teach the basics of politics to ignite interest and awareness of how our government works.

Not understanding the process of government and the way it works is in direct correlation to why two-thirds of the population does not vote in presidential elections. This lack of political knowledge may explain why a huge portion of our population, have no to very little trust in our government. Teaching about politics is a necessity in order to have a population that knows the impact they can have in politics, and the ways they can change the future of their nation.

This story was originally published June 1, 2017 at 2:06 PM with the headline "Letter: Schools should teach the basics of politics."