ICIVICS.ORG is a website dedicated to Civics. Civics was once a required class in public schools. It disappeared as Education Reform erased the importance of students learning their responsibilities as citizens in a republic.Civics teaches students the aspects of government. Most importantly, the role of civics classes was to teach future citizens the importance of the integrity of government systems. Participation by citizens guarantee checks and balances to our government.
Another aspect of citizenship is the integrity of reporting. Journalism, as discussed in the Bill of Rights plays an important aspect in holding our government accountable to the citizens. Without journalistic integrity, elections can be manipulated. Voters become disenfranchised, and then we become witness to low voter turnout.
ICIVICS wants to change the current apathy about citizenship. It is a clever site. Tapping into the current RPG gaming environment most familiar to today's learners, it is a very engaging. Students choose an avatar and engage in daily civic lessons. Relevant, and current, students will be immersed into today's current problems with citizenry. For example, fake news is examined as one part of the game. A very clever lesson in vetting sources. A challenging world of determining what is truth, and the skills necessary to filter the news.Judicial law, branches of government and learning how local government works are just some of the offerings. This is a great site, that should be required learning in middle/high schools across the United States. For now, it is up to parents/educators to discover the site. Hopefully, with time we can impact future generations. Without lessons in civics, we have political ads that are deceitful, cynicism and low confidence in our system of government. This is why ICIVICS is so important. A valiant online attempt to education our youth about the systems of government and how they work.
