America: What Does Our Future Hold?

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It seems every generation of children in modern-day America have their own "defining moment." There was Pearl Harbor in the 1940s, the assassination of JFK in the 60s. These moments come up often in family conversation, as parents now of their own children recall, "I was sitting in my fourth grade class when the principal came over the loudspeaker and told our class what had happened."
During and because of each of these moments, Americans reach a peak in their patriotism. Americans, when you look at the big picture, are like "fair-weather friends." While this is, I'll admit, a generalization, the majority of Americans today take for granted the rights we all have as citizens. This, of course, completely changes when something enormous happens- something that can change the course of our nation, and the world, entirely. You start seeing American flags everywhere and signs with "God Bless and America", "Land of the Free", "United We Stand, Divided We Fall." Then, after a long enough period, these signs start to fade and the flags go in and are replaced with Tom the Turkey in time for the Thanksgiving holidays or whatever else might be happening at the time.
Even still, during this period of patriotism, Americans, especially American students, begin to realize the importance of their country and how truly revolutionary it in the fast-paced world of today.
Whenever someone shows a stereotypical picture of a classroom, you always see an apple and an American flag- no matter what picture it is that you are seeing or who may have drawn it. For most students, the flag is not really a symbol, but the thing you stand in front of with your hand on your heart and say the "Pledge of Allegiance" to every morning before you start class.
Once a "moment" comes around, the students are forced to see the flag through what it really means. Drawing from my own personal experience, my elementary school was filled with bulletin boards on what the stars and stripes actually stand for. The hallways were lined with essays by the fourth graders (since we were considered the most capable out of a K-4 elementary school) about what American means to us and what makes our country so special.
There are, and I hate to say it again already, so many people today that take America and everything it stands for completely for granted. People become so caught up in voting for this guy so he can stop the next guy from doing something else that they forget why it is that they are voting in the first place and the sacrifice that was given so they could vote.
I remember when I was in the sixth grade going with my mother to vote for the new president (Bush vs. Kerry). I remember my mom looking around the gym of our town's elementary school and saying how amazing it was that in the confines of this small gymnasium people were voting to choose the next leader of the free world.
During school when I was little, I was taught numerous times what rights we have as Americans, who brought these rights about, and what fighting occurred in order to secure our nation today. It seems, however, that this does not impress enough upon the average American citizen. I see adds all over the internet and on television trying to get 18-year-olds to register to vote and how important their single vote is. There are moving, and often disturbing, commercials about saving Darfur, pushing Bush to take action before even more people are killed. Even still, there are adds for Joe Schmoe for governor, pitching the idea that you need to vote for him because the man you have in office now is just going to hurt you. Then, of course, the guy in office, puts out an equally as damaging add, talking about how that isn't true, often using the other person's commercial in theirs to emphasize their point.
This all brings me to this one question: "What does democracy mean to Americans today?"
At the beginning, I talked about some of the "defining moments" in the history of each generation of Americans as they were growing up. For me, of course, my moment was September 11th. At the time, I was in the fourth grade, living in a town not more than 15 minutes from the World Trade Centers. I was in computer class during the morning, when my teacher received a phone call. He went on to tell our class that there was an important piece of news that we all should know. After telling us, no one really knew how to respond. Some seemed nonplused, others seemed concerned, like myself, having family working in or near the city and the towers. My mother, thank God, was fine, working in midtown, she could see the towers fall, but was a safe distance away. After the attacks on the towers, the Pentagon, and the plane crash in Pennsylvania, Americans found a resurgence of their patriotism. The American flags came out. The New York Times printed American flags in the centerfold of their papers every morning, people put magnetic ribbons on the backs of their cars with the usual patriotic slogans, choruses around the country began singing "American the Beautiful" and "Proud to Be An American," and Americans did find within themselves a deeply tucked-away pride in their beloved country, one that took an international-scale disaster to surface.
So, what does democracy mean to Americans today, and, in particular, American teenagers today? To me, its more than just being able to say anything, anytime, anywhere, without being arrested. Its being able to pursue whatever you want once you graduate high school or college. It's having the opportunity to reach for your goals without anyone telling you that you can't. It is so much more than what you learn in your fourth grade elementary school class, and I think people need to understand the importance of that. Why would I be writing this if I wasn't concerned about the welfare of our country 20 years from now? As Americans, we need to step things up. We need to share the uniqueness of our country with other people, instead of bringing our country down and all of the people within it. We need to try and let other people understand what it is that makes America so special. That is what kids today need to hear. They need to hear Kobe Bryant or Beyonce say that America is a special place, only then can we try and get all children in the United States today to be motivated about the future of our country. There are so many pressures and worries in our lives that we don't always have the time to appreciate things for ourselves. We turn to our role models and think about what they would say or do about something. There is homework to do, sports to practice for, tests to pass, parents to please, and a fast-moving world to welcome us on our journey. We need to appreciate America and its diversity. We need to appreciate everything we believe in and have the right to do in our country. Then, we need to pass this on to future generations. America is slowly loosing its shiny veneer. It is starting to fade in the eyes of the rest of the world. Let's do something about it. Let's show the world that American truly is a great place to live. But first, we need to understand who we are and the people around us everyday.