Is it important to teach democracy in schools?

Education has been an important aspect of American life for a long time. Many reforms and changes have been made throughout the years to make the education of United States students top-notch. This includes changes in the curriculum, the integration of schools during the Civil Rights movement, standardized testing, and the more recent No Child Left Behind Act. What has stood out in American schools since the beginning of the institution is the importance of teaching democracy. In Teaching Against Idiocy, Walter C. Parker states, “Here is democracy’s built-in progressive impulse: to live up to itself.” (p.3). The concepts embodied in the ideals of democracy are important to pass along so that as a whole community, America can work towards the aspirations of a truly democratic society.
Democracy is a form of government by the people and for the people. It is in the country’s best interest to not only teach liberal arts courses such as English, Math, and Science, but to integrate teaching about the way the American government is ran, along with the teaching of other government systems around the world. In a country where diversity is valued and students have the choice to pursue whatever degrees they wish in the upper levels of education it is essential to develop democratic citizens within the school system.
Walter C. Parker presents three assumptions in justifying the teaching of democracy in his article, Teaching Against Idiocy. He claims that democracy is superior to other forms of government and that it is necessary for schools to educate for citizenship. He also says that engaged citizens are not born, however they need to be taught in order to become connected. Parker states, “They do not naturally grasp such knotty principles as tolerance, impartial justice, the separation of church and state, the need for limits on majority power, or the difference between liberty and license. They are not born already capable of deliberating about public policy issues with other citizens whose beliefs and cultures they may abhor. These things are not, as the historical record makes all too clear hard-wired into our genes.” (p.3) One thing that educators should always do is continue demonstrating these important democratic principles to the students and citizens of America.