Should children be taught politics in school?

Chalky

This is a petition on Change.org for children to receive formal Ofsted-inspected school education in how they can shape the country through awareness of, and participation in, politics.

My gut feel is that its a good thing for children to be taught. But is it also an open door to political indoctrination at a most impressionable age?

Perhaps your 15 year-oids will come home and tell you your politics are wrong and who you should vote for? Or they want to go on a political march that you might not agree with? I'm picking these scenarios to get the discussion going

https://www.change.org/p/nicky-morgan-mp-schools-needs-to-prepare-us-for-life/sign?utm_source=action_alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=506946&alert_id=LjnIfDiziv_BbbchD18DgIQvzJOGxKTQ2TZCJBFSZeSxMknFZxAp7I=

scrumhalf

I did British Constitution at O Level, I have no idea if such a thing exists these days. Admittedly, it was more about the machinery of government.

I would steer well clear of politics in schools, certainly at GCSE, it will just end up as a source of more politicking.

I also did Government & Politics at A Level. I'm forever grateful for that as I use the Constitution of the USSR as my soldering base to this day.

fretmeister

It's the adults that can't be trusted to teach it properly.

WezV

They should be taught about the system and the theoretical differences in the parties, less about the farce that is modern politics.... And your children should come him and challenge you to think about your own views.

xSkarloey

You can do A level politics.

A lot of schools incorporate learning about democratic institutions and participation as part of the PSHE curriculum.

However, I think participation would be the way to go. To give a practical example, I would encourage a class to compile a list of everything they disliked about their local area. Thus compiled I would then divvy out the complaints among the kids and get them to email local and national politicians about their gripes.


Several birds would be killed with one stone here:

- Making kids aware they can cause a fuss if narked
-Teaching formal e-mail/ letter writing skills
-Channeling anger
-Giving MPs and councillors some work to do
-Making politcians aware that the under 30s do exist and a lot of them a fucking angry.

Sambostar

Yes, the art of presentation and debate, forwarding an idea, consensus, compromise and democracy and funding, local economies and local democracy and getting along and self worth and responsibility.  Of course they should, that is what politics is.

If you mean teach them about Quangos, PPP's, Blubber Lips Porky Pig balding, the Wench Princess of Pain or the Bald Leech of Darkness and the benefits of selling off the NHS and how the EU is the best thing invented since medieval torture devices and why we should all clean our homes with a dustpan and brush, taxed at 30,000,000% because it's eco friendly whilst the richest hoard all the wealth and fly about on private jets in the sky to amuse us, then no.

Absolutely not.

digitalscream

On the face of it, it's a great idea - too many people vote for single-issue parties out of ignorance (note: I'm not saying that everybody who votes for single-issue parties is ignorant) as opposed to making a balanced choice of who could actually run the country.

However, it'd be a disaster. Teachers are, by definition, members of a political group, so this would be opened up to all sorts of accusations of abuse and bias. Not only that, but can you imagine the unbiased ones teaching about the conservative party with any kind of positivity and then going on strike the next day? The kids would bulldoze them in seconds over that.

I'd actually settle for schools encouraging critical thought instead of learning-by-rote with the pace set by the lowest common denominator.

richardhomer

I'm pretty confident my 13 year old is already taught politics - albeit subliminally - within other subjects.

It sees to me that concepts like democracy should be taught and championed; may be processes too - such as how a bill enters statute. Beyond that, it starts to get tricky in terms of impartiality.

57Deluxe

...you mean teach them to cheat and lie and be money-grabbing?

Sambostar

Well Americans are a step ahead of us and have been for years.  American kids from Kindergarten onwards have to stand up and present and debate in each and every school a few times a week, as well as pledging allegiance to their country and what it stands for, each and every day and thinking about what it means to live in a democratic country.

Half the kids in the UK can't even read and write at 11, all their flood plain playing fields have long been sold off,  in a council swindle for cronyism and they have to make do with a stream of illiterate supply teachers whilst their parents just let them do what they want so long as they don't make any noise or upset them and they keep raking in the child benefit and tax credits.

The only kids who experience an American style education in this country, that teaches personal responsibility and self worth go to public school.

xSkarloey

Honestly, I'd look at the curriculum at Eton as regards what they do in this field and copy that.

The outgoing head ( Tony Little) is a seriously conscientious and decent bloke.

Lest the likes of Cameron and Johnson blind us totally, schools the likes of Eton do actually produce in the main decent and well-balanced young men. It's such a shame that none of them go into politics.

Sambostar

That is the irony, most of the rest of us, especially now they have done away with grammar schools spend most of their time in school having to deal with the fallout of national and local politics.

jpfamps

Skarloey said:

Lest the likes of Cameron and Johnson blind us totally, schools the likes of Eton do actually produce in the main decent and well-balanced young men. It's such a shame that none of them go into politics.

I don't that statement is exclusive to the "decent and well-balanced" alumni of Eton.........

crunchman

jpfamps said:

Skarloey said:

Lest the likes of Cameron and Johnson blind us totally, schools the likes of Eton do actually produce in the main decent and well-balanced young men. It's such a shame that none of them go into politics.

I don't that statement is exclusive to the "decent and well-balanced" alumni of Eton.........

That's the problem with our system  The things necessary to advance in a political party is something decent and well balanced people want nothing to do with.

Phil_aka_Pip

Our History lessons dealt a lot with Politics. Catholics vs Protestants, Monarchists vs Royalists, Whigs & Tories, the rise of Socialism, the Russian Revolution, the birth of the Trades Unions & The Labour Party, the first Post-War election ... all these things came up at various times. I don't think we went into how modern politics works, but I do think it gave us some kind of background into how we got to be where we were back in the early 70s.

Heartfeltdawn

digitalscream said:

Teachers are, by definition, members of a political group, so this would be opened up to all sorts of accusations of abuse and bias. Not only that, but can you imagine the unbiased ones teaching about the conservative party with any kind of positivity and then going on strike the next day? The kids would bulldoze them in seconds over that. I'd actually settle for schools encouraging critical thought instead of learning-by-rote with the pace set by the lowest common denominator.

Teachers are not by definition part of a political group. Take the pension ballot in 2011. A turnout of 40%, 92% in favour of striking. There's plenty of teachers who are NUT but don't agree with the NUT hierarchy (I was immensely proud of Ma for breaking the picket lines during that strike).  

It should be taught in schools. Debating should be part of the school system. The rigid nonsense abotu having PE for all pupils: fuck it, give the intelligent kids the option to sit it out and to do political studies instead. 

Chalky

I was blessed with an English teacher who taught us how to present and debate and a Maths teacher who taught us how mortgages, bank accounts, unsecured loans, and insurance worked, the processes not the calculations. Outside the curriculum but damn useful.

Sambostar

Actually I'II admit I don't really know.  I haven't be to school in a very long time.

Philly_Q

I did politics as an extra subject in my first year at university.  As far as I can remember it was more about political history, different electoral systems etc than actual party politics.  Quite interesting.  

I dropped out of the last few lectures because we were supposed to do a presentation, which I didn't fancy.  But it was actually the only exam I passed that year (my real subject was maths), I almost got kicked out.

So yeah. nothing wrong with teaching it in schools so long as it's not indoctrination.

littlegreenman

Heartfeltdawn said:

It should be taught in schools. Debating should be part of the school system. The rigid nonsense abotu having PE for all pupils: fuck it, give the intelligent kids the option to sit it out and to do political studies instead. 

Surely the option should be to do either, or both? Sporty competitive kids can be intelligent, and vice versa, no? And who decides which kids are "intelligent" enough to skip PE?

Jalapeno

I think Civics, and the British Constitution are fine.  Politics should be left until kids are older.