On February 7, 2013, the Stanford Center on Adolescence hosted a campus-wide conference on the current state of youth civic development and education in the United States. Seven distinguished speakers, who have been leaders in the scholarship, practice, and policy of civic education, presented their views on what is needed to promote civic development among today’s youth.
The speakers had a diversity of perspectives and areas of expertise, and this diversity was reflected in the extensive variety of matters discussed during the conference. This report does not attempt to capture the diverse wealth of insights and opinions expressed in the seven speakers’ individual conference talks. Rather, the purpose of this report is to highlight some points of agreement that emerged from the talks and discussions. We believe that suggestions shared by this distinguished panel will have value for the broader community of civic educators, and that they contain important messages for all citizens concerned with the future of today’s youth and tomorrow’s democracy.
