In a healthy, democratic society, it is important that students know their rights and civic obligations so they become engaged in issues that affect their communities and themselves. Leadership and responsibility represent skills that greatly influence the efficacy of civic initiatives. Students that demonstrate leadership and responsibility in civic life are better able to effect change and achieve a common goal with the larger community in mind. For example, student leaders in school government can use their role to reach out to the student body and address school community needs to improve their own learning environment. This type of school involvement helps prepare students for becoming responsible members of society.

First Amendment Schools (FAS) is a reform initiative created to address how schools can integrate the rights and responsibilities of democratic citizenship into teaching and learning. As part of this initiative, FAS develops resources around the constitutional rights of freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly and petition. Resources include lesson plans, sample school civic policies, and publications, such as “core civic habits,” for educators to use in promoting civic literacy. In addition to online access to these civic literacy resources, schools can apply to become a First Amendment School and access supplemental curricular and financial resources geared toward helping schools model and teach democratic and civic principles throughout the school community.

Implementing School Governance Reform to Increase Student Leadership Opportunities

In this Edutopia video clip, produced by The George Lucas Educational Foundation, students at Hudson High School in Hudson, Mass., participate in planning and building a school environment that encourages a sense of community among the student population. The school administration signed on as a First Amendment School to support a school governance system in which students have the opportunity to take on leadership roles and influence decisions that affect student life.

The school governance system was reorganized to increase civic engagement and promote democratic community principles. The student body is broken down into 10 clusters of about 100 students and each cluster is developed around a theme of interest and develops community service projects. For example, one student cluster works on a knitting project with seniors in the community to knit hats for the homeless.

Educators and elected students from each cluster participate in the school’s community council, which is responsible for making decisions about school issues — a responsibility previously left to the school principal or faculty. Modeling the democratic process, these elected students leaders act as representatives for the student body. Student leaders run monthly meetings for the community council committee to discuss and recommend policies that affect student life, such as the school dress code and food served in the cafeteria. As students learn about and participate in civic life, they also test the limits of the freedoms guaranteed by the constitution. In one case, the school’s conservative club exercises their freedom of expression by trying to recruit members by showing inflammatory images that the school administration believes to be inappropriate.