Engaging Young People in Civic Life

5. Civic Participation and Development among Urban Adolescents

102 5 Civic Participation and development among urban adolescents Daniel Hart and Ben Kirshner Poor urban neighborhoods are often viewed as bad contexts for child and adolescent growth. Policy makers and researchers are deeply concerned with the high rates of crime in such neighborhoods (e.g., Sampson, Raudenbush, and Earls, 1997). Criminal activity endangers the youth who live in such neighborhoods and, through processes as yet not fully understood, facilitates their own entry into crime. Poor urban cities also seem unsuccessful in preparing youth academically; there are innumerable reports detailing the shortcomings of urban school systems and the resulting achievement deficits evident in America’s biggest cities. No doubt urban environments—particularly those characterized by the high levels of disorder that are associated with poverty—can be obstacles to successful development. Our goal in this chapter is to explore youth civic participation in poor urban neighborhoods. Civic participation is rarely discussed by those concerned with the effects of neighborhoods on development. In part, civic participation is eclipsed by the truly disastrous effects that crime and educational failure have on adolescent development: a low level of volunteering among urban adolescents can seem unimportant relative to the tragedy of high rates of incarceration and dropping out of school characteristic of high-poverty cities. Yet the state of civic participation among minority and low-income adults and their children should alarm anyone who is concerned about the future of the United States. Jamison, Day, Shin, and the Census Bureau (2002) report that adults with family incomes less than $10,000 a year voted in the 2000 elections at about half the rate as those in families with incomes higher than DanielHartandBenKirshner 103 $75,000 (41 vs. 75 percent, respectively). Findings such as these led the American Political Science Association to conclude, “The privileged participate more than others and are increasingly well organized to press their demands on government . Public officials, in turn, are much more responsive to the privileged than to average citizens and the least affluent. Citizens with low or moderate incomes speak with a whisper that is lost on the ears of inattentive government, while the advantaged roar with the clarity and consistency that policy makers readily heed” (APSA Task Force on Inequality and American Democracy, 2002). It is perhaps not surprising that the relative political disengagement characteristic of low-income adults is reflected among their children. The 2006 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) test for civics suggests that students from low-income households have much less of the knowledge necessary to participate effectively in a democratic, civil society than those from affluent households (Lutkus and Weiss, 2007). Indeed, the average 8th-grade student from a low-income family (eligible for free school lunches) has less civics knowledge than 75 percent of students from affluent families. Yet in our view there is great potential for revitalized civic participation among adolescents living in urban America, for several reasons. The first of these stems from the preponderance of evidence showing that they are developmentally ready for meaningful participation under conditions of support. The second decade brings increased cognitive potential—youth interpret social issues and are capable of formulating complex solutions (Larson and Hansen, 2005). Questions of identity come to the fore, as teenagers grapple with questions of right and wrong and sociopolitical ideologies (Erikson, 1968). Second, civic participation provides an opportunity for adolescents to develop skills that are underdeveloped by poor experiences in school and to bind to institutions that can buffer the deleterious effects of stress and crime so often found in high-poverty areas. In other words, civic participation can lead to healthy development. Third, too often policies toward youth are built around their perceived deficits or the problems they pose to social order. Recognizing the developmental potential of young people may engage them rather than alienate them. There are usually serious economic and social issues, within neighborhoods and citywide, that can capture the energy and effort of adolescents who see a role for themselves as political actors. Indeed, there are innumerable examples of sophisticated , committed social and civic activism in urban neighborhoods across the country. Much of this civic activity is overlooked in assessments of civic participation that focus on indicators of conventional activity such as voting. The 104 EngagingYoung People in Civic Life ubiquity of this kind of activity suggests considerable commitment to social issues; often, then, adolescents have the motivation for civic participation but lack...