Today’s rapidly changing and interconnected world offers new opportunities for youth to learn about civic and political issues in their communities and the world. Yet, youth may also feel overwhelmed by the array of civic issues that require attention. Gun control, opioid abuse, climate change, racism, LGBTQ rights, immigration, voting rights, and policing policy are just a few of the issues that can feel urgent, contested, and complicated to understand and/or address. How can youth be motivated to tune in to learn about civic issues unfolding locally, nationally, and around the world? How can they be inspired to pursue an interest in a particular issue and ultimately engage with others around it? How can they be supported to leverage offline and online resources to investigate an issue they care about, voice their ideas, engage in dialogue with others, and ultimately take action?

 

In this introductory module, we provide prompts and activities to invite youth to explore their face-to-face and online communities and to identify civic issues that are relevant, even urgent, to people in their local communities and in the wider world. As part of this, youth will examine how their digital lives reflect and shape their interests, and how digital tools can be used for civic purposes. The ultimate aim is to support youth to discover a civic issue that piques their curiosity and connects with their values and interests. In sum, in this module students will explore the following questions:

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• Who do you see as your face-to-face and online communities?

• What civic issues do you hear people in your community talking about most?

• What civic issue are you curious about that you’d like to understand better and get involved in?