Class V Civics Action Project

Ordinary people can participate in the political process and drive social change in ways well beyond voting—they can raise funds, mobilize others to get involved, protest, deliberate, and work on public issues.

Digital technology has had a dramatic impact on these traditional forms of political engagement, and young people stand to benefit greatly from these changes in civic action and the social changes such innovation might inspire. But the digital environment comes with risks: privacy breaches, anonymous trolls, polarization, “fake news,” and cyberbullying are all too common in the digital public sphere.

As educators we want to make sure that we help young people develop into equitable, effective, and self-protective civic actors in a digital age.

The 10 Questions Framework provides an effective approach to meeting these recent changes in political engagement. The framework is designed to engage young people with the ethical concerns of citizenship, focusing on equity, effectiveness, and self-protection to ease the burdens of participation.
 

The following essential questions provide a framework for exploring the main ideas and themes in IMMERSE:
 

• How can young people change the world?
• How can we use digital media effectively and safely when we "choose to participate"?

Visit the 10 questions for Young Changemakers website

Sponsored by the Democratic Knowledge Project at Harvard University