Should Basic Level Politics be introduced as a mandatory subject in secondary schools

Yes, absolutely. Look at the disgraceful way the country is currently run; the younger genereation is beging absolutely shafted. Meanwhile the older "golden generation" have everything, including a nice winter fuel allowance and free bus pass. Younger people need to be taught the importance of voting.

Reply 21

Hopple

18

Original post by EmptyBracket

Yes, absolutely. Look at the disgraceful way the country is currently run; the younger genereation is beging absolutely shafted. Meanwhile the older "golden generation" have everything, including a nice winter fuel allowance and free bus pass. Younger people need to be taught the importance of voting.

But even when they do turn out in numbers to vote (for the Lib Dems) they still get shafted :s-smilie:

Reply 22

EmptyBracket

6

Very true- another problem of our ageing population.

Original post by Hopple

But even when they do turn out in numbers to vote (for the Lib Dems) they still get shafted :s-smilie:

Reply 23

Juichiro

18

Original post by keegan20

My belief is that Politics runs the world in some form or the other, the majority of people however do not get educated enough about politics.

Should Basic Level Politics be brought in as a mandatory subject to replace something like General Studies?

Yes. As well as sexual education and basic finances (banking system and debts). It is very sad that a modern society in the age of science and reason does not teach students about themselves or how the world they live in operates. Instead it chooses to force-feed facts that can easily be checked with swipe of your finger.

Reply 24

Morgsie

7

Yes, the bulk of Citizenship should be politics

I don't want the US version over here

Reply 25

J_W-x

13

It is a good idea, but when I was in school I didn't give a **** about some subjects that actually mattered, if I had to study politics that would have been a free period for me, despite me being interested in it now, I was just a stupid kid (I still am to some extent but eh)

Reply 26

King Kebab

16

Original post by glelin96

It's not about teaching them who to support, it's about giving them the means to decide who to support. By teaching them the influence that government has over our country, and how the system actually works, many people would grow up with a much better idea.

I know that. I have serious doubts if that could work in practice though.

Reply 27

nExow

Original post by EmptyBracket

Yes, absolutely. Look at the disgraceful way the country is currently run; the younger genereation is beging absolutely shafted. Meanwhile the older "golden generation" have everything, including a nice winter fuel allowance and free bus pass. Younger people need to be taught the importance of voting.

I agree with you on this, but I vote No because there would be most definitely be a clear left wing bias in the nature of which 'basic politics is taught'. This is because the majority of teachers work in the public sector and thus they have a clear vested interested and bias towards supporting command-esque economic policy.

Reply 28

Izzyeviel

19

Yes, too many people on here think Labour is a left wing party.

Reply 29

glelin96

2

Original post by King Kebab

I know that. I have serious doubts if that could work in practice though.

How could this not work? I honestly don't understand.

Reply 30

glelin96

2

Original post by ThatPerson

They said they should replace General Studies for Politics, however General Studies is only studied at A-Level, and some sixth forms/colleges have made it compulsory.

If you are in Year 11 or below, then you don't do general studies, so either the poster got it wrong or they meant Years 12 and 13.

Please re-read the title, re-read the original post, re-read your comment, and then get back to me. I did indeed study general studies at GCSE, and I know many other students that did so. They did not necessarily it would replace general studies, only something like it.

Reply 31

King Kebab

16

Original post by glelin96

How could this not work? I honestly don't understand.

I believe impartiality would be difficult to achieve for teachers if they were teaching a subject like politics.

Reply 32

username865376

2

As long as the teaching is politically neutral, then yeah I think there should be. Back in sixth form, and even now at university, it's amazing how clueless some people are to some basic political facts regarding the country, such as who the main political parties are, who's got what job in the government etc.

Reply 33

ColdColourStitch

4

Absolutely, in fact I would say that it should be considered a borderline essential part of our school curriculum and should be placed alongside the same importance as English, Maths and the Sciences when a pupil reaches Years 10 and 11. I would have jumped at the chance to study it at GCSE and found that my A-Level studies significantly boosted my knowledge of mainstream and fringe politics. I would argue however that my studies still didn't go far enough.

My ideal topics for a 2 year GCSE module would be:

The Government Branches - Basic understanding of the Legislature/Executive/Judiciary
Political Ideologies - 20th Century to Present day and basic comparisons to historical political figures
Voting Behaviour/Trends
Contemporary Issues in British Politics (i.e. The Monarchy, The Recession, Basic EU understanding)

Examinations would be 25% MCQ (i.e. outlining definitions of a royalist/socialist, stating political events such as when a certain person became Prime Minister etc) and 75% essay, split into two shorter essay questions on issues such as change in the political ideology of the Labour/Conservative Party, what the arguments for a republic are and other similarly styled questions.

I do agree with the above post that all teaching would have to be politically neutral. But it is outstanding and quite frankly embarrassing that a significant proportion of high-school students have no knowledge of our political system or it's main figureheads.

Should Basic Level Politics be introduced as a mandatory subject in secondary schools

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