Results of
Brainstorming Activity

East Bay Conservation Corps
Oakland, California
August, 2001

What are the attitudes one needs to be an effective citizen?

  • Awareness of others
  • Caring
  • Respect for differences
  • Conscious
  • Patient
  • Critical
  • Loving
  • Commitment to the common good
  • Democracy is hard but we must stay hopeful about it.
  • Assertive
  • Open minded and open heart
  • Proactive
  • Lean into discomfort/take risks
  • There is more than one way of addressing an issue.

What are the actions one must take to be an effective citizen?

  • Leave your house
  • Participate
  • Know (learn about. . . ) your values
  • Think and act and reflect, the do it again
  • Plant living things
  • Share ideas
  • Listen to opposing ideas
  • Create safety so people can speak openly
  • Stand up for your beliefs
  • Turn of the TV
  • Attend a council meeting
  • Know what's happening
  • Listening
  • Helping others
  • Breathe
  • Actively participate in the political process
  • Stand up for your beliefs

What are the skills one needs to be an effective citizen?

  • Able to listen fully w/o judgment
  • Communicate clearly
  • Ability to admit one is mistaken
  • To have an opinion
  • Proactive
  • Balancing individual interest with concern for the "common good"
  • Language in arts & culture
  • Empathy
  • Ability to take initiative and think independently
  • Critical thinking & interpretation (especially with the media)
  • To be able to judge fairly
  • Do your research
  • Hear all sides
  • Collaboration
  • To seek to understand the motives behind people's actions
  • To envision issues holistically
  • An ability to give voice to your heart and mind and nurture that ability in others

What knowledge does one need to be an effective citizen?

  • Understand history
  • Knowledge of yourself
  • A knowledge of our rights and responsibilities
  • An appreciation and understanding of different learning styles
  • Who to contact and influence
  • Who to ask for help
  • Vision of the future and of what we want
  • How to communicate with peaceful passion
  • Understanding of your own power and how to pass it all around
  • The arts
  • Personal accounts carry more weight
  • Knowledge of your personal history, the history of your community, country, and the citizens within it
  • Knowledge of the infinite possibilities

What are the commitments one must make to be an effective citizen?

  • Awareness of the issues around them
  • To keep being active, especially when one is uncomfortable
  • Compassion
  • Know your heart and be open to knowing the heart of others
  • Participate by voting--learning about issues
  • Listen actively every day
  • Listen compassionately to those who think differently than you do
  • Time--weekly to help others
  • Find your gifts and share yourself with your family and community
  • Reach out
  • Get involved
  • Change
  • Learning

Return to National Outreach in Civic Participation and Youth Service page.