Ancient Greece is credited with creating the world's first democracy. Greek ideas influenced how democracy developed around the world, including in the U.S.A. Click the button below to read more about this!
Did You Know?!
The oldest continuous democracy in North America is not the United States of America?
That title actually goes to the Haudenosaunee (hoh-DEE-noh-SHOH-nee) Confederacy, a Native American confederation of six nations based on peace and equity.
In the United States, the right to vote has changed over time. Watch this video for a brief history of how voting in America has changed.
Explore this timeline that gives an in-depth look at the history of voting rights in the United States.
During the election cycle, you will likely hear a lot of talk about American Institutions, such as the electoral college, political parties, or branches of the government.
These short videos can help you understand what you might hear or see.
Do you have your own election or voting joke to share?
If you share it with us, we might put it on this page!
Disagreements are part of a healthy democracy.
It shows that people have different points of view and care enough to share them.
But sometimes disagreements can get heated and people can get angry. When that happens, we don’t really listen to each other or care for each other, so It is important that when we disagree or have different points of view that we stay civil and engage in civil discourse when we are in disagreement.
Even though you are young, it is important to our democracy that you use your voice!
But before using your voice, you need to know that what you say or share is accurate and factual.
Media is the way information is shared (books, news, webpages, Instagram, etc.) Media can be full of misinformation, or information that is simply not true. YOU need to be media literate so you can sort fact from fiction.
Media literacy is the ability to identify different types of media and understand the messages in them. It involves skills such as fact-checking, lateral reading, understanding bias and credibility, thinking critically, and sharing information responsibly.
Share your picture with us!
Send us your drawing of democracy, media literacy, or civil discourse and we might add it to this page!