Civic Sense and the Citizen

Civic Sense and the Citizen

What is civic sense? How does it relate to the citizen? How does civic sense relate with everyday lives of Citizens?

It is important to understand the true meaning of Civic Sense. Civic Sense is but common sense, in relation with one’s responsibilities, behavior, deeds and duties, as a model citizen. It need to relate to the surroundings you live in, the town you belong to and the expectations of the nation from you as a citizen. Every citizen, as enshrined in the constitution of the Nation, is entitled to fundamental rights and are bound to deliver as per constitutional duties.

Civic sense goes beyond these well-defined rights and duties. The first indication of true civic sense in a citizen is his recognition of ones own duties and the rights of others. Good neighborly behavior, respect of women and children, abstaining from littering, dirtying or misuse of public places, sticking to the unwritten rules of priority (queue systems), etc.… are the passive aspects of civic sense. They are considered passive in that these decencies are followed not by diktat but by nature. Nobody need to remind you of these qualities and they occur upon you by your upbringing and education.

The active part of civic sense are proactive deeds you do, to prevent  damage or danger to fellow human beings or public property, work actively to the betterment of the society and public property, diligently report crime -preferably in a preventive manner, support causes that seeks to protect, sustain and restore natural resources and public health. These are but a few examples of Active Civic Sense. This is the stream that defines you as a model citizen. It seeks not just to make life better for the society, it also inspires a few others to follow suit. One doesn’t have to await the belated arrival of the municipal authorities to fill that pothole that developed in the by-lane, near your house. To help the aged person across the street, you don’t need to dial up police. To inform the law authority of nefarious activities happening in the neighborhood, you do not need the permission of your next door neighbor. Suffice it to say, it is your unwritten duty as a vital part of the society and a citizen of the nation.

It is vital that these qualities are ingrained in the impressionable mind of young children, where they get embedded as behavioral traits and not imposed upon them at a much later age. Schools play a vital role in this. The social studies lessons, at school, have the most important role of molding good citizen. It is time teachers realize this and use the raw material provided them into valuable products