Finding creative ways to foster civic engagement is a worthy cause, and it’s one we wholeheartedly support. A special event this Sunday in Franklin should be of interest to those who care about Western North Carolina, particularly residents of Macon County.

“Renewing Franklin: Restoring Community through Citizen Participation and Civic Engagement” is the name of a forum that will be held from 2 to 5 p.m. on Feb. 13 at the Macon Bank Headquarters off U.S. 441. The conference is the brainchild of Franklin alderman and community activist Bob Scott, who has enlisted the help of Western Carolina’s Public Policy Institute.

Western’s Public Policy Institute has unabashedly promoted civic engagement in the region, a mission that fits nicely with the university’s larger efforts to provide thoughtful leadership in many areas. In a recent article in the Franklin Press, PPI Director Gordon Mercer and the director of Western’s Masters of Public Affairs Program Gibbs Knotts say participating in one’s community life has more benefits than one might at first suspect: “Academic research even suggests that citizen involvement leads to economic growth, more responsive communities, improved educational systems, crime prevention and better health care.”

That list of benefits is similar to what emerges when pollsters ask Americans what ranks as the most important issues in their lives. In other words, building great communities will happen only if the members of that community get off their duffs and participate. It’s a simple relationship between cause and effect that too many have forgotten in these busy, hectic times in which we live.

A recent poll of high schools students that tested their knowledge of the First Amendment provides a snapshot of how we are teaching our children about community involvement. That study, conducted by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, questioned more than 100,000 high school students, 8,000 teachers and 500 administrators and principals. Among its findings:

• Nearly three-fourths of high school students either do not know how they feel about the First Amendment or admit they take it for granted.

• Seventy-five percent erroneously think flag burning is illegal.

• Half believe the government can censor the Internet.

• More than a third think the First Amendment goes too far in the rights it guarantees.

• Among students who have not taken any courses dealing with the media or the First Amendment, only 68 percent believe should be allowed to express unpopular opinions.

These results should disturb Americans in these days of terrorism and war. The freedoms this country is trying to export and for which we have fought many wars are not even known or appreciated by many of our children. According to the thinking of a third of those students, the First Amendment — the foundation of our free society — grants too much liberty.

When one brings the results of this poll down to a local level, it would seem many of our youth do not even think they should the right to criticize the actions of county commissioners or the mistakes made by a planning board. The right to speak out for or against the actions of government leaders must be encouraged. It’s all about civic engagement, and if adults don’t take part they can’t expect their children to know any better.