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What do children feel regards toward any political authority if they are punished for not conforming? The answer is powerlessness, which carries into the adult life. It has been found that by a preschool age children have already formed a crude conception of political authority and some feelings with regard to its worth. (Easton and Hess, 1962) The idealization of approved authority reflects important psychological needs of the child. Confronted with the inescapable authority of adults, and realistically aware of their own helplessness, a child must seek some form of accommodation. Easton and Hess go on to say in the article A Child’s Political World,” For a small majority, rebellion, aggression, and mistrust may be chosen avenues. But for most, adaptation is more likely to take the form of imputing to authority qualities that would permit the child to think of authority in a favourable light.” But the point here is that attitudes toward achievement, change, cooperation, obedience and competitiveness, can be shaped by the cultures of the classroom. A child that is ‘rebellious’ or ‘aggressive’ towards authority does not choose that ‘avenue’, as described in Easton and Hess’s, A Child’s Political World. The school gives the impression that a ‘good citizen’ is expected to have respect for authority, but does not discuss the respect that these ‘good citizens’ deserve from authority.
Textbooks in the Process of Political Socialization
“The education of the child shall be directed to the preparation of the child for responsible life in a free society, in the spirit of understanding, peace, tolerance, equality of sexes, a friendship among all peoples” UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 29
Another area of political socialization in schools that is interesting is the politically charged messages made in “the glue of the nation”. Social science textbooks subtly justify the activities of persons and groups who are powerful, but do not draw the attention to undemocratic decision-making procedures. It was found that descriptions in elementary textbooks of persons with political power as being always responsive individuals, when in fact it is not always the case. And this lack of criticism engrained in the learning process of institutional arrangements only makes the problem continue. (Anyon, 1981) Another example of the ‘glue of the nation’ could also be by describing socialism in textbooks in terms of its political restrictions, and not a “real democracy” as well as uncritically describing the United States as the only ‘rational’ one. (Anyon, 1981)
The reader Elites, Followers and Contrarians, page 16 states, “Most political orientations are acquired when we accept messages from others, for example, parents, teachers, and mass media. These messages may be offered unintentionally, or intentionally, such as a civics teacher providing the pupils with political information. Then the “great books” have come under attack. The dispute has certain urgency: educating the young for democratic citizenship. Teaching or to defend teaching of Western moral and civic values and those, on the other hand, who take the same texts and the teaching of them to represent the silencing of the oppressed and the expression of unjustifiable privilege. (Euben, 1999)
Another point that could explain the incorrect or unbalanced political messages that exist in the schools is the fact that some educators are not interested in politics themselves, and some even have their doubts about their own preparation or competence to teach this subject. (Dekker, 1999) In his book, Corrupting Youth: Political Education, Democratic Culture, and Political Theory, Euben says, the highest vocation for a political educator is to encourage thought and independent judgement. The “old way of doing things”is no longer feasible when seen in the light of present and future problems of the sector. New institutional forms or “fits” may have to be developed that determine the future of this sector. (Boin and ‘T Hart, 1999). The ‘old ways’ of teaching are noticeably wrong since the serious question comes up; why are not enough young people interested in politics?
How can we make young people interested in politics? What can schools or educators be expected to do to contribute to political education of children? Schools should be expected to provide children with up to date textbooks and messages that are not discriminating in any way towards other cultures, political systems, and social class. In this case new reforms had to be developed that determine the future of children, which in turn is the future stability of political systems. The new reforms that have been created are basically ‘new’ in the international arenas. There is clearly a growing acceptance of the basic principle that children have rights, and that their rights deserve respect.
Conclusion
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