How much should politics be taught in our schools?

The basics of how our government was formed and how it operates should be taught at levels appropriate to the understanding of the child's learning level - which would, of course, mean going into more detail as children progress through the grades. The teaching of our history (including political history) and how it has impacted events in our country is an important part of educating our children. It is the study of these past "mistakes" that keeps us from making the same mistakes again.

Government classes are fine to teach, like how government works classes, but I do not think teacher should teach about politics. Public schools are government institutions and should be non-partisan. The problem is school teacher are unionized by the most radical Democrat union the NEA. Does anyone, honestly think a NEA school teacher is going to give a fair and balanced lesson on the role of government? What about spending, and taxation? I can almost picture the lesson plan, taxation is good, government is good, more spending is good. Twelve years of that cr*p and what do you get, a Democrat. Thank God for home schooler and private schools. At lest some children will not be little government puppets

I think that children should only be taught the basics of politics to start off with.As everyone would agree, politics is a very complex subject and could corrupt a child who after all, is just that.Learning the 3 R's is far more important.And after all politics is the dirtiest game in town.....every town.

This is a catch 22 issue for a couple of reasons. First off, if we don't teach our children about history, government, economics, and yes politics, then we are raising the next generation to be uneducated voters. This is not a good thing. We need to teach the youth about these things so that they will be able to make informed decisions about whom to vote for and WHY to either vote or not vote for them. The down side to this is the fact that too many teachers will see this as an opportunity to persuade the children to one party or the other. This should not be allowed and is not what I mean when I say that politics should be taught. By teaching politics, I mean that they should be taught about each of the political parties and what they stand for, they should be taught about our government and how it works. They should also be taught about the important issues facing our nation and what our leaders are doing about them. It would also be a good idea to teach about current events - this will keep the students knowledgeable about what is going on in our world today. Unfortunately if we do teach our children politics in school, it will inadvertently be a class that will favor one party or candidate over another. This should not be allowed - rather they should be taught why and how to make an informed decision on who will best lead our nation in the way it needs to go. Sorry, I will get off my soap box now....LOL

I think yes that that should teach our children about politics,the election process and ALL who are involved.as far as taking them to rallies i wouldnt want my child in the middle of that incase somthing bad goes down. i think instead of going mabey watching it on tv. but i think that ny the schools teaching this. the kids when older will know what to look for and know what to find out inorder to choose who they should vote for. i think that it will increase the number of voters in the future. Instead of having people like me. who have no freaking idea whats happening because i dont understand what is good for our country and what is not. and to guess is a pretty serious thing esspecially this election.lol

i think it's incredibly important for children to feel active in politics because it will effect them later in life when it is their turn to be running the country.

My thoughts on this is that the schools should teach government and civics but not politics. My feeling is that if we want to teach children about being involved in the process, then we teach them about responsibility, ethics, and independent thought. I think that younger voters that had been educated better would be making better choices in this election.

I believe that they should be taught about the process of elections and the history of how it got that way but talking about any candidates or parties shouldnt even be mentioned. I think it would be dificult for anyone with strong party leanings to give a balanced education as to what each party or candidate stands for so I would just want them to talk about the process. That way the child can decide for him/herself who the best candidate would be. Cheers, Tianna

Political education is similar to religious education. I am sure it is important to understand political and religious systems and beliefs however it is in my mind inapropriate for educators to force feed a particular belief system onto children. This is indoctrination as opposed to education. This leaves children with no capacity to think for themselves and create cogent arguements later in life on these sort of subjects. In the end we end up with what other countries have... indoctrinated populations.