Resources

Multicultural and global scholars urge that we prepare the young for national and global democratic citizenship given the increasing interdependence and challenging realities for today. Young people desire to be a part of the solution to global problems, but they must be educated about what those problems are and how solutions can be arrived at. As has been seen in the U.S. presidential campaign, young people care about their communities, country, and planet, and they are volunteering and voting at record rates. We must take responsibility to plant the seeds of critical citizenship if we are to foster a more sustainable, peaceful, just, and prosperous world. Educator Sheldon Berman sums it up by writing: It is important for teachers to tell young people about the success stories of others, students who have reclaimed forests, cleaned up rivers, improved their school environment, helped the homeless. They need to hear about the Mother Teresas and the Martin Luther Kings, of course, but also about the people who live down the street who are doing what they can to improve the neighbourhood and about the many organizations that make a difference in our communities. We must put students in touch with these people and organizations so that they can see how deeply people care about their world and how worthwhile it is to participate in creating change.