Janzen, MarkGregory, James P.2020-07-092020-07-092019(AlmaMMSId)9983031810402196https://hdl.handle.net/11244/325103During World War II and the Cold War, Civil Defense agencies needed to get the American people behind their programs. Civil Defense officials used new methods of informing the public while encouraging active participation. To this end, officials saw children as a sly means to improve adult education, since they would tell their parents nearly everything they learned. By teaching the children and teenagers civil defense lessons in entertaining ways, they could comprehend and regurgitate the information. The children would then encourage their parents to be a part of Civil Defense. To appeal to a younger audience, the normal rhetoric of facts on the effects of nuclear war could not be used. Instead, the government needed to find new ways of captivating youth while also instilling vital defense information. By looking at comic books, the identification tag program, Stars for Defense radio show, toys, and games, this thesis will show how the various civil defense agencies recruited the youth of America into their ranks. The literature on Civil Defense focuses on a shelter-centric approach where the programs related to bomb and fallout shelters take the lead role. The primary objective of this thesis is to highlight the programs instituted by Civil Defense officials in order to appeal to children and teenagers and add them to the larger historiography. The comics allowed students to visualize the roles of civil defense and why preparedness is important in time of war. The identification tags made children and adults feel secure knowing that important information was recorded. Stars for Defense brought music and comedy into the mix by pulling in listeners with their favorite celebrities. Finally, the toys and games put children in the literal shoes, and gas masks, of civil defense officials. These programs found new and interesting methods to accomplish the goal of educating the adult population by keeping children actively engaged in learning about Civil Defense.All rights reserved by the author, who has granted UCO Chambers Library the non-exclusive right to share this material in its online repositories. Contact UCO Chambers Library's Digital Initiatives Working Group at diwg@uco.edu for the permission policy on the use, reproduction or distribution of this material.Civil defenseWorld War, 1939-1945Comic books and childrenToysTeenagersAcademic thesesChildrenCivil DefenseComic booksIdentification tagStars for defenseToys and games(OCoLC)1435566284