Civics Saved My Child: Civic Engagement, Resiliency & Social Emotional Health During the Pandemic & Beyond

"Civics Saved My Child…"

How civic engagement has bolstered resiliency and social emotional health during the pandemic lockdown and beyond

by Michelle Herczog, Ed.D., Director, California Democracy School Initiative, Los Angeles County Office of Education

There is no doubt that school lockdowns and virtual classroom environments, void of face-to-face interaction during the Covid-19 pandemic had an enormous impact on the social emotional mental health of young people. Countless reports of students feeling alone, isolated, mentally and physically depressed caused great concern among families and educators. But for students engaged in civic learning, that was not the case.

Civic engagement is an important focus of the California Democracy School Initiative, directed by the Los Angeles County Office of Education. It provides training and recognizes schools across the state that have dedicated time, resources, policies, and expertise to institutionalize high quality civic learning for all students across one or more grade levels to prepare ALL students for civic life. https://www.lacoe.edu/Curriculum-Instruction/History-Social-Science/California-Democracy-School

A number of California Democracy Schools realized the power of civic engagement as a powerful anecdote to feelings of despair during school lockdowns and continue to strengthen students' social emotional health now, as schools have reopened under duress.

Alhambra High School students in the Alhambra Unified School District addressed issues of immigrant rights, racism, recycling, climate change and many others. "The civic engagement expectation for students grounded them in realizing these issues were not going away. And though the environment was chaotic, they realized there is a lot of work that still needs to be done and they were not going to let the pandemic stop them!" remarked Javier Gutierrez.

Students in Jorge Cierra's 8^th grade Spanish Immersion Social Studies class at John Adams Middle School in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District tackled a number of issues in Spanish, regarding mental health of students, bathroom facilities, food insecurity in their community, homelessness, racism, women's rights, use of renewable energy for newly built school auditorium, and the Covid crisis in India.

The Covid-19 Civic Engagement Project in the Anaheim Union High School District helped students learn the facts about the virus and engage in activities to "slow the spread" by promoting the message about getting vaccinated, or creating a service or product to end the pandemic. Lesson One opened with "What can you do to slow the spread of COVID-19 and what impact will that have on our community?"

Cambridge Virtual Academy, an online public school in the Anaheim Union High School District civically engaged seventh graders in civic learning campaigns to address issues surrounding pregnancy, women's health, deforestation, climate change, gender inequality, racism and the income gap, suicide prevention, disabilities and public transit, and homelessness.

Interviews with students, parents, teachers, and administrators made it abundantly clear that the civic learning program provided students with a strong sense of connectedness, confidence, and enthusiasm to address issues they are passionate about. Meaningful engagement was especially important to combat feelings of loss and isolation. Students acquired more than content knowledge of subject matter and civic practices, they learned about themselves - their interests, their passions, and their capabilities.

As one parent commented about her daughter, "The program gave her a lot of confidence by collaborating with students and teachers. She did not feel isolated this year. It helped with her mental and physical health and positive thinking."

Students remarked, "Civic engagement gives us a voice and allows you to have connection during this period of solitude." "I learned I can use my voice to express myself. It opened my eyes to the different things we can actually do in this world. Before it was just school. But taking civic action on something you are passionate about made school much more important and meaningful to me."

Community engagement driven by meaningful activities bolsters social emotional health and serves as a salve - an ointment that helps treat pandemic specific traumas and feelings of despair. Students in these schools continue to find ways to build confidence and resiliency traits for their own personal success by addressing real world problems, head-on, that are relevant and meaningful, at a time when it is needed most.

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