Digital Opportunities for Civic Education
by Joseph Kahne, Jacqueline Ullman, Ellen Middaugh
The youngest generations participate the least in civic life, with a full 55 percent of those under thirty recently judged as civically and politically “disengaged’ in a report by the National Conference on Citizenship. Close to two- thirds (64 percent) of young adults aged 18-29 say that they are “not at all” interested in campaign news. Judged by traditional measures, current levels of youth civic knowledge and participation are problematic. We argue that civic educators’ ability to address this situation productively requires increased attention to the civic and political dimensions of digital media.