DAILY NEWS BRIEF: A new report co-authored by Willian Damon, a professor in Stanford’s Graduate School of Education urges a re-imagining of youth civic education in classrooms with a focus on getting students to more actively participate in learning democratic fundamentals.

“It’s an urgent issue if this country wants to succeed as a democracy,” Damon in an interview with the Stanford Report.

The paper stemmed from a February conference held at Stanford on U.S. youth civic education, hosted by the Stanford Center on Adolescence for which Damon is the director.

Recommendations listed in the report include a call for civics curriculum to focus on fundamental concepts of American democracy such as liberty, equality and justice to name a few.

Other recommendations call for use of primary documents and case studies of contemporary civic leaders to better engage students in what they learn.

“Democracy in practice is emotionally exhilarating and often conflict-ridden. Civic education should reflect this,” the report said.