28-Nation Study: Students' Grasp Of Civics Is Mixed

By Kathleen Kennedy Manzo

Washington

American 14-year-olds and their peers around the world have a good grasp of the fundamental principles and processes of democracy, but their understanding is often superficial and detached from real life, concludes a study released here last week that assessed the civic knowledge of 90,000 students in 28 democratic countries.

Moreover, while students recognize the value of participating in civic activities—such as community service and civil protests—they generally doubt the importance of more traditional political action.

"An overwhelming four out of five students in all countries indicated that they do not intend to participate in conventional political activities generally associated with adult political involvement: joining a party, writing letters to newspapers about social and political concerns, and being a candidate for a local or city office," the report on the findings says. "Nevertheless, students across the various countries are open to forms of civic and political engagement unrelated to...