By Joseph Edgerton
Staff Writer

As a parent of a 4-year-old, Kelly Hebert of Bedford hopes to do a better job of parenting than the generation before her.

Several residents also agree that families need to take the opportunity to become more involved in the community.

Results of a survey conducted the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College were published in the BE Press at the University of California at Berkeley in May.

The study found a lack of civic engagement in Bedford among adults and children, and said the reaction of residents could either cripple the town or make it a national example of community.

Part of the study found Bedford children feel powerless and disengaged, while adults seen unaware or unconcerned with their complaint, and adults are unaware or unsympathetic to their children’s attitudes.

Town Manager Keith Hickey said the findings of the survey are consistent and represent the concerns of the town council, who first sought the input of Saint Anselm College’s Rev. Dale Kuehne in 2000.

“The lack of involvement is disappointing, but we need to be realistic,” Hickey said. “There are some people who would prefer going to a Little League game or a dance recital over a town council meeting or zoning board meeting, unless the decision affects their property. Other people are either comfortable with how their government works, or think their opinion doesn’t matter. Hopefully, that isn’t the case.”

Kuehne, who designed the survey with Elizabeth Ossoff Ph.D., said the trend is happening elsewhere, not just in Bedford.

“It was hard to get a difficult response rate, but we felt we had a scientifically defensible topic,” Kuehne said. “Bedford is a great community, and there’s nothing happening here that isn’t happening across the state or the nation. But, citizens need to be civilly and democratically engaged. If fewer and fewer people do the work, the system can’t sustain itself.”

Completed one year ago, the New Hampshire Institute of Politics’ report underwent an extensive peer-review process before publication. The names of the creators were removed from the study, as the report was sent to universities across the nation, Kuehne said.

In spring 2002, survey questions were sent to 1,200 registered voters in Bedford and responses were gathered in eight weeks; 198 respondents returned the survey.

The respondents were 42 percent male and 54 percent female, and had an average age of 50 years old. They had spent an average of 15 years in town, 80 percent of them went to college or pursued higher education, and half of them reported an annual household income of more than $100,000 a year.

A sample of 800 students aged 14 to 18 were also sent surveys, and 43 respondents ­ 22 male and 21 female ­ participated. The average age was 15.9 years old.

Among other findings, the survey reported that “children of the community feel profoundly disengaged and powerless, while the adults seem unaware or unconcerned with their complaint ... they are also unaware or unsympathetic to the significant aspects of the attitudes of their own children.”

This finding is one of the most alarming aspects of the survey, Kuehne said.

“We didn’t expect that level of alienation among the high school group. America is in a crisis when it comes to civic engagement,” he said. “The ‘Greatest Generation’ (which came of age during World War II) generally became involved at a very young age. With every successive generation, the amount of civic participation has declined.”

Kuehne said the lack of participation among youths, like the lack of participation among adults, is due to a number of factors.

“These aren’t bad kids. They’re bright, and they’ll go on to college and have great jobs,” Kuehne said. “Someday, they’ll probably run the world, but their level of disengagement was astounding.

“Behavior during your 20s and 30s tends to replicate itself throughout your life,” he said. “If you aren’t voting when you are younger, you aren’t any more likely to get involved when you’re older.”

As adults continue to live in a growing community and spend an extensive amount of time commuting to out-of-town jobs, other effects on public discourse begin to emerge.

“This is not uniquely in Bedford, and I can understand why politics and engagement start to go,” said Kuehne. “Incivility and hostility arise when people are unaccustomed to how politics work. They have something to say, but they may not know how to say it, and they don’t have much time. Nonpolitical socializing is on the decline.”

Kuehne said some of the feedback he has received centered around the high school debate in Bedford.

“Some people think that we picked up the residue of a contentious time because of the school issue, and that things are different now,” he said. “I don’t think that’s true. It may have been a contentious issue, but it got people involved. I think we’ve found something that may be part of the fabric. If we’re wrong, there should be no worries, but if we’re right, this is a chance for people to change.”

Hickey said the debate over the high school was one of the biggest issues faced by the community in recent memory.

“Everyone had an opinion, and it’s something everyone could understand on even a basic level because it affected their tax rate,” he said. “Typically, people get involved when they know a decision will affect them.”

Like Kuehne, Hickey also said parental involvement is crucial to civic engagement.

“If kids don’t see their parents getting involved, going to meetings and voting, they may not realize how important their involvement is,” Hickey said. “Sometimes they don’t appreciate what the ability to vote really means.”

Kuehne said the survey is not meant to single out Bedford, and the responses reflect America at large.

“This is not a cheap-shot criticism of Bedford because the town has an opportunity to do something we could all learn from,” he said. “The town council was genuinely interested and concerned in the survey, which is an exception to my experience with politicians. I’ve been impressed with the quality of their leadership for six years now.”