Change a child's life

Civics: too cool and important (just) for school

The research shows that you are one of your child's first and greatest influences. The research also shows that family political discussions have positive civic outcomes in youth. Young people who discuss politics with their parents report higher levels of national news monitoring, political knowledge, public communication skills and community service.

Source: The Influence of Family Political Discussion on Youth Civic Development: Which Parent Qualities Matter?

This translates into a feeling of belonging and that one person's actions can make a difference. The result is a desire to participate in positive change.

Everything is Connected: Engagement and voting matters

Voting = engagement = community participation = belonging

There are some engaged citizens who do not vote. Overwhelmingly, however, they do. And some citizens who might be characterized as "disengaged" still take themselves to the polls. No sweeping generalizations hold true with regard to voting.

But, for the most part, voting indicates a measure of civic engagement and participation that is a component of social wellbeing - and a measure of connectedness.

We all want to give our kids the very best chance at happy, healthy and successful lives. A sense of community belonging contributes to that goal.

Research and theories on the reasons why people become engaged and vote or don't vote are almost boundless. The fact that the most significant decline in voting is evident among the youngest voters; aged 18-25, has been used as evidence of a generational trend toward apathy.

There is some agreement that declining voter turnout in North America reflects three socio-political trends. These include the sentiment that "they (politicians or political parties) are all alike, so why bother voting." There is also a sense among citizens that their vote doesn't count. It's a bit of a self fulfilling prophesy. If you don't vote, your vote can't count. Finally, research shows that a decline in the strength of party identification has had an impact on voter participation.

But whatever the reasons, a strong democracy depends on improving overall political participation – including improving voter turnout, political party involvement or by increasing individual involvement in the process in other ways.