More than 135,000 high school students in 250 high schools were asked recently to name the issues that matter to them most in this post-9/11 world.

The No. 1 answer: school lunch policies.

Some might see this as another sign that this generation isn't going to make anyone forget Jefferson and Madison. In 2000, the elders of the generation those in the 18- to 25-year-old range posted the lowest voter turnout for the age group in the history of presidential elections: 32 percent (compared to 54.7 percent of all eligible voters).

Perhaps they don't vote, the argument goes, because they know so little about history. In a 2000 Roper poll, 81 percent of seniors from the nation's top 50 colleges and universities couldn't correctly answer high- school-level history questions. Most couldn't identify Valley Forge, words from the Gettysburg Address or even basic principles of the U.S. Constitution.

The White House is so worried about this "WB' Generation that it held an unprecedented forum last week, hosted by first lady Laura Bush and Lynne Cheney, wife of Vice President Dick Cheney. Entitled the "We the People Forum on American History, Civics and Service,' its participants intended to brainstorm ideas on how to fix these non-voting, history-illiterate laggards before democracy must be entrusted to their indifferent hands.

Here's the other side of the story:

These kids are more involved in their communities than almost any previous generation. According to a study last year by the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), 40 percent of people between the ages of 15 and 25 volunteered in the past year compared to 32 percent of GenXers and 32 percent of Baby Boomers.

The number of students involved in service-related school projects has increased 1,400 percent over the past 15 years to 12.6 million, according to the U.S. Department of Education. Students are recycling soft- drink cans from the lunchroom. They're planting gardens at senior centers. They're collecting school supplies for kids in Africa and boxes of cereal for food pantries.

This generation is so engaged that author Elizabeth Rusch has dubbed them "Generation Fix.'

The fact that they're not voting when they hit 18 doesn't mean they don't care about politics. Frankly, I think they are onto something. Voting is not the simple act many say it is. It isn't about punching holes in a ballot. It's about making careful choices.

These kids, by helping out in their communities, are preparing themselves to make careful choices. The longer they engage in protecting the environment, feeding the poor and supporting the elderly, the clearer they will see how political decisions affect real lives.

That said, more history classes are a good idea. Polls showed that young people felt a surge of patriotism after Sept. 11, 2001. But it's not clear they understand that defending America means more than waging a successful military campaign.

"There's a key distinction between the sentiment of patriotism and the practice of patriotism,' William Galston, director of CIRCLE at the University of Maryland said at the White House forum last week.

These kids will find their way. It is perfectly appropriate that their No. 1 concern is school lunch policies from the freedom to eat off-campus to the length of time allotted. It is something that directly affects their lives, something that won't change unless they push for it. Someday they'll translate that activism to the larger world. Their focus will shift from school lunch policies to welfare and land-use policies. They'll start making connections between politics and the issues they care about.

Then they'll be ready to vote, which is exactly when they should vote. The health of any democracy does not depend on "the votes of the people.' It depends on the votes of engaged and informed people who care about their communities. The future, I'd say, is in good hands.

Joan Ryan is a columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle. E- mail her at joanryan@sfchronicle.com .