October 26, 2000
Educators seek right buttons to tune young people into the election
With surveys showing a rise in political apathy among the young, educators are studying new techniques to engage youngsters in the spirit of democracy before they reach voting age.
“We need to educate children in how to hold the office of citizen ? the highest office in the land,” said Julia Gold, director of a University of Washington program that sends law students into high schools to conduct mock trials and legislative debates.
Gold will preside at a UW conference on Saturday, Nov. 4 ? three days before Election Day ? on “Reinventing Democratic Life: Law, Justice and the Education of Citizens.” Presentations will range from law Professor Stewart Jay’s multimedia history of the Constitution, to a demonstration of aikido as a civics tool.
Why go to so much trouble?
“Young people are tuning out the election,” said Bobbie May, a conference presenter and the executive director of Kids Voting Washington, the state chapter of a national civic-participation group.
The nonpartisan Kids Voting project offers a simulated voting experience on Election Day by providing booths where children can cast ballots alongside their parents. But even where that prop is not available, May said, parents can give children a good first impression of democracy in action by bringing them to the polls.
The need for engaging the young in politics is illustrated by a recent nationwide survey conducted for Time magazine and MTV that found one-quarter of Americans ages 18-24 couldn’t name both major presidential candidates without prompting. Seven out of 10 failed to identify the vice-presidential candidates.
“We?re acting as though it?s possible to have a democracy without democrats,” said Walter Parker, a UW professor of education. ?There?s a national hysteria about reading and math scores and now high-stakes accountability testing. So teachers end up spending all of their time on reading and math.”
As a result, Parker said, citizenship education too often gets left behind.
Parker will be joined at the conference by his College of Education colleague James Banks, director of the Center for Multicultural Education; Kathy Hand, who teaches constitutional history to elementary and middle students; Bellevue teacher Paula Fraser, who delves into historical lessons of the World War II internment of Japanese-Americans; Margaret Fisher, designer of a curriculum that brings mock trials into classrooms; and Heather Helman, an Edmonds educator working to enlighten students on the role of jurors.
Also likely to attract interest is Jonathan Miller-Lane, social studies chairman at Bainbridge Island High School, who will present a workshop on “Aikido as Civic Education.”
“When teaching civics,we emphasize discourse skills that enable citizens to disagree respectfully and resolve conflict nonviolently,” Miller-Lane said. “In the movement practice of aikido, we practice the same thing.”
The conference is intended for primarily for educators, but the public is welcome to attend for a $12 fee that includes a box lunch. It will be held at the UW Law School, Condon Hall, 1100 N.E. Campus Parkway, two blocks west of the main campus.
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For more information or to attend, contact Gold at (206) 543-3434 or julgold@u.washington.edu, or Parker at (206) 543-1847 or denver@u.washington.edu. For information about Kids Voting Washington, contact May at (425) 885-6021 or kv_wa@nwlink.com.
Also on the Web
1) www.vote-smart.org/yip: Youth Inclusion Project surveys and informs young voters.
2) www.kidsvotingusa.org: Activities for parents and kids to do together.
3) www.rockthevote.org: Teen-friendly information designed to get out the vote.
4) www.pbs.org/democracy/kids: Classroom resources and information for kids.
TIPS FOR PARENTS
1) Choose an issue. Find one that affects your kids directly, like the environment or education. Talk to your children about which candidate reflects your views.
2) Contact the candidates. Encourage your child to write or e-mail.
3) Take a family walk. Note the political ads. How many different campaigns can your kids identify?
4) Listen up. Have your kids talk to older family members. Who was the first presidential candidate they voted for? Their all-time favorite candidates?
5) Go to the polls with your kids. Customize a ballot for your kids to mark with the most important contests.
>From www.takeyourkidstovote.com
