Published: Friday, February 11, 2011, 11:45 AM Updated: Friday, February 11, 2011, 2:48 PM
Should schools be required to have civics classes?online survey
Growing engaged and civil American citizens was a topic during this morning’s Michigan Political Leadership Program panel starring former presidential press secretaries Dana Perino and Mike McCurry.
Perino, formerly with President George W. Bush’s administration but now a Fox News political commentator, said her dad started requiring her at a young age to read both the Rocky Mountain News and the Denver Post, and be prepared to discuss two stories at the family dinner table.
McCurry, former press secretary to President Bill Clinton, said, “We need to get back to teaching civics.” He said today’s schools are too afraid to discuss current events. And he cited the value of learning how to debate, requiring students to argue differing viewpoints on issues.The Michigan Political Leadership Program is a multi-partisan Michigan State University program that helps prepare future public policy leaders. Much was made this morning that 14 of its graduates are now in the Michigan Legislature.
But that’s not soon enough. Perino encouraged everyone in the room to invite a young person – perhaps “someone who looks different from you” – to next year’s Michigan Political Leadership breakfast. She encouraged attendees to be intelligent consumers of news.
So how are you helping your child become an engaged, informed citizen? What else can we do to encourage good citizenship? Share your ideas with fellow MLive users.
Email Meegan Holland at mholland@grpress, and follow her on Twitter @meholland.
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Tags: both-the-rocky, child, clinton, denver, discuss-current, ideas, leadership, michigan-political, morning, president, rocky-mountain, university