The ballots are ready. Are your students?

The ballots are ready. Are your students? 

Every four years, our nation enters the Voting Season.  It’s a mad-dash for support, for donors big and small, for sound-bites, good news, bad news, and any news in between for candidates running for elected offices.  And every four years, Americans head to the polls, or so we think.  Voting numbers in the United States are significantly low, placing us 26th among 32 developed voting nations.  Presidential elections generate a lot of buzz, but in reality, about only half of the United State’s Voting Age Population (VAP) show up that Tuesday in November.

We hear that our vote matters, and as a democracy, we can only thrive when our entire community thrives.  We hear stories every election about a narrow victory, even stories of local officials elected by a one-vote margin.  They’re inspiring, a perfect image of what the democratic American Dream can be.  We understand the public benefits from being civically minded, how we choose not just the person on the ballot, but the policies and actions they take to progress our community's growth.

Civic-mindedness is not just a benefit for the voting population of America, but the youth too.  Yes, the youth benefit specifically from public education, libraries, recreational programs, but also from the active interest in their community’s success.  A published study in the journal Child Development highlighted the positive impact of youth who show an active interest in civic engagement.  The study discussed that benefits lasted long-term, ensuring more future success of the youth as they grew into adulthood, and were beneficial regardless of ethnic, racial or socioeconomic backgrounds.  Guardian education levels, or even current academic success weren’t influencing factors either, but rather, just by interacting in civic life was the most worthwhile. 

But we’re expected to, at 18, understand this responsibility of our voice, and without any practice, act in a responsible manner.  Unless we live in states with automatic voter registration, we have to register, and understand that voting is a right, and how we can remind our politicians that they are to serve in all of our best interests.  Civics classes in high school, and comprehensive United States’ social studies classes can help reinforce that reverence for voting, but that still doesn’t involve the practice of voting.

We’ve all heard the phrase “practice makes perfect” and practicing voting through Student Soapbox is another way we can help our students be more civic-minded.  We embolden our students to build their responsibility for voting, through the practice of what they vote on in Student Soapbox, that’s what they’ll learn.  Importantly, we encourage our students to connect with their peers and participate.  We support our students in working through differing opinions, recognizing that similarities still exist no matter how large the chasm may seem.  We want our students to explore their learning, driving their education through standards-based, teacher led lesson plan choices, to engage in their direct school communities, giving them the practice to engage and demonstrate for their larger communities.

Join us in this effort this 2020!  Sign up for a demo today!