Laws. Articles. Amendments. Elections. Governments. These are some of the topics talked about in Civics, a class that students must take during their senior year of high school in order to graduate. But what is it about Civics that students must know so that they can graduate?  Why is Civics required to graduate?

Many students on the Dublin High campus aren’t quite interested in politics and would rather take a class that interests them. However, there is a point behind taking this class. According to Dublin High’s Civics teachers, Civics is a relatively important class to take. The reason behind this is that many adults do not even know the most basic facts about the nation’s government. Although Civics may have nothing to do with students’ future career plans, it is still important to have some basic knowledge about their own country’s politics and how it works.

Even though there are students that are not interested in politics, there are some students that are and others that gained interest after taking the class. Some students have actually learned a lot about politics and one great example would be Megan Chung.

“I believe taking Civics will help me understand more about my own country’s government and just anything politic related things,” senior Megan Chung shares.

 Chung is taking Civics and admits that at first she did not like or understand anything about the class and wondered why students were required to take the class in order to graduate, but slowly after lectures and lectures, she grew more and more interested in politics. Chung now admires the “beautiful system” that the Americans created.

However, not all students are interested in politics like Chung. Some students’ interests are driven to another direction, and sometimes completely opposite from politics. Although it teaches basic knowledges that all Americans should know, it’s not something that one must know to live.

“Politics is just not my thing,” senior Juliann Awad states. “I loved my Civics teacher but Civics was just a bad class for me. It would be nice if it was an elective class.”

Awad’s suggestion is great, however, Civics is not only a required course in Dublin High. It is a mandatory course throughout the whole nation. Therefore, Dublin High cannot make any changes to the graduation requirements.

In Civics, you will learn how the United States’ democracy works, how bills are passed in the Congress, and how the voting system works. This class will provide some small but valuable improvement to the country’s public education.