# Citizenship (elementary school) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 18, 2019, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/citizenship-elementary-school/835702 "2019-06-18T18:18:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2019, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/citizenship-elementary-school/835702/1 "2019-06-18T18:18:36Z")
A coworker from the East had never heard about Citizenship grades in elementary schools. (I guess the line ‘You’re a very bad citizen!’ on _Star Trek_, ‘Miri’, S1E8 would have gone over his head.) I thought I’d look up some information for him and googled: citizenship grade elementary school. The first hit was a school in San Diego, though not the one I went to. The other returns I saw, all seemed to be school-specific. I was hoping there would be a Wikipedia article called Citizenship (academic) or something. GQ: Is there a page that describes ‘Citizenship’ over the U.S. school system, as opposed to individual pages from individual school websites? ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2019, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/citizenship-elementary-school/835702/2 "2019-06-18T18:25:49Z")
I went to school in the Maryland DC suburbs. We had no such thing in elementary school. We had a “citizenship test” during 10th grade, and the first semester of history class that year was focused on civics in preparation for that test. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2019, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/citizenship-elementary-school/835702/3 "2019-06-18T18:26:54Z")
This sounds to me like something that would mean something different at every school. It could be an academic subject much like any other that covers things like the structure of government, i.e., what any citizen ought to know. Or it could be a description of the student’s behavior in their other classes. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2019, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/citizenship-elementary-school/835702/4 "2019-06-18T18:59:49Z")
I certainly did not have any such course. We had civics classes; structure of government, the incredible electoral college, that sort of thing. Oh, and importance of voting. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2019, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/citizenship-elementary-school/835702/5 "2019-06-18T19:06:19Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > I went to school in the Maryland DC suburbs. We had no such thing in elementary school. We had a “citizenship test” during 10th grade, and the first semester of history class that year was focused on civics in preparation for that test. > [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > I certainly did not have any such course. We had civics classes; structure of government, the incredible electoral college, that sort of thing. Oh, and importance of voting. > [@Chronos](#): > > Or it could be a description of the student’s behavior in their other classes. **Chronos** got it. Citizenship wasn’t a subject. It was what they called being a considerate student who worked and played well with others. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2019, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/citizenship-elementary-school/835702/6 "2019-06-18T19:24:27Z")
Aha. No, didn’t have that either. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2019, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/citizenship-elementary-school/835702/7 "2019-06-18T19:29:35Z")
This discussion might be helpful [https://www.bookcrossing.com/forum/5/545748/9000647](https://www.bookcrossing.com/forum/5/545748/9000647) ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2019, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/citizenship-elementary-school/835702/8 "2019-06-18T20:38:27Z")
It was called “Deportment” or “Conduct” on my elementary school report cards. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2019, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/citizenship-elementary-school/835702/9 "2019-06-18T21:14:50Z")
My elementary school report cards had a whole page for nonacademic behavior on which the teacher could grade us on 17 different criteria, like “Exercises self-control”, “Listens courteously”, “Respects the rights of others”, “Respects private and public property”, “Dresses appropriately”, etc. The word “citizenship” does not appear on the card. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2019, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/citizenship-elementary-school/835702/10 "2019-06-18T22:16:13Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > My elementary school report cards had a whole page for nonacademic behavior on which the teacher could grade us on 17 different criteria, like “Exercises self-control”, “Listens courteously”, “Respects the rights of others”, “Respects private and public property”, “Dresses appropriately”, etc. The word “citizenship” does not appear on the card. I had something very similar for my early elementary school career (kindergarten and first grade, maybe). ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2019, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/citizenship-elementary-school/835702/11 "2019-06-18T23:43:47Z")
If memory serves my report cards more resembled this, using the “O-S-N” grading system throughout, though I feel like ours had way less categories: [https://i.pinimg.com/originals/51/3a/69/513a69de731a744a2970d1811ab21809.jpg](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/51/3a/69/513a69de731a744a2970d1811ab21809.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2019, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/citizenship-elementary-school/835702/12 "2019-06-18T23:56:17Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > If memory serves my report cards more resembled this, using the “O-S-N” grading system throughout, though I feel like ours had way less categories: [https://i.pinimg.com/originals/51/3a/69/513a69de731a744a2970d1811ab21809.jpg](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/51/3a/69/513a69de731a744a2970d1811ab21809.jpg) That looks familiar.