The first time I remember disagreeing with my dad was when I was 5. I couldn’t hold a pencil and couldn’t write, so my parents decided to have me repeat kindergarten.

The violence of the last week and the ending of the contentious midterm elections are further proof that America has become a political tinderbox — one in which roughly half of Democrats and Republicans alike report they are afraid of the other political party.

Republicans have declared war on American universities. The GOP’s proposed tax bill threatens to wreak havoc on graduate programs and to tax university endowments that are crucial for providing financial aid.

No one is born knowing how to be a good citizen. The best treatment for our democracy’s current ailments — from polarization to vulgarity — is the kind of civics education that most American students no longer get.