This amounts to an educational tragedy that could spell calamity for our democracy. Unless we forfeit our commitment to a democratic republic, we must embrace education for democratic citizenship as the central goal of public schooling in the United States and act upon it. Minimally, we must focus public education on preparing students to fulfill their function as watchful, reflective, active citizens who will serve to check the powers of government and any vested interests that threaten the principles upon which the United States was founded. The Educational Forum , Vol. 56, No. 3, Spring 1992, p. 265.
Societal issues are too important to confine to the social studies.
Every subject can and should make important contributions to the development of students' understanding of complex issues they will face as adults. . . . Insofar as social issues provide a connection between the scholastic treatment of subject matter and the 'real world,' the study of social issues across the curriculum also can enliven subject areas perceived by students to be divorced from life beyond the school walls. . . . Fertile opportunities for engaging students in substantive consideration of social issues exist throughout the secondary curriculum. With relatively slight modifications, virtually any subject area can develop student competency in addressing social issues. . . . Providing structured opportunities for students to reflect systematically on perennial societal issues across the curriculum is an important step toward making the secondary school truer to its historic mission to educate enlightened citizens for life in a democratic society.