Courtney Enright
Ketchikan
Essay Topic: How can our schools move students towards civic responsibility, i.e., becoming voters, increasing awareness of local, state, and national governments and political issues, and understanding the relationship of our history to current situations?
Most schools have a student body association (SBA). I believe one of the best ways a school can encourage students to become involved in politics is through encouraging students to become more involved in the SBA. Research has of course taught us that the younger habits are formed the more likely they are to stay with us during our lifetime. What a better way to form a good habit then through truly utilizing the SBA? SBAs around the state hold great potential and our statewide organization "Alaska Association of Student Government" (AASG) is alive and thriving. It would be in the best interest of students as well as high school staff to start using these involvements to facilitate an interest in civic involvement. An easy way to do this is to have the SBA actually have a say in the way our high schools operate. I am not suggesting by any means the SBA usurp power or decision making authority from the administration but rather next time the school has to make a simple decision such as what type of art to put up in the hallway - hand the decision over to the students. If students grow used to the idea that their opinion doesn't matter, how does anyone think that mindset will translate from the high school setting to the real world. If anything the "real world" is larger and it is easy to think - how can my letter to the senator do anything? or better yet, how can my one vote make a difference? That isn't the mindset we want, so lets not start it at the high school level. Allow the students to vote on the type of mural or new color for the bathrooms - just small decisions - it will give all students a sense of empowerment and start setting the trend or mindset signifying that yes that what I do does make a difference.
While I understand there are plenty of requirements and stipulations placed on graduation, I believe that adding one more could be important. It would not be untoward to require students to register to vote prior to receiving their diploma. Obviously not every student turns eighteen while still in high school, but at least requiring every student to fill out registration and then the ones who have not yet turned eighteen will have theirs filed away at the school. The school will then in turn mail in the registration when the time comes that the student is in fact eighteen. This would not violate any constitutional principals because the school would have no hand in determining which party the student registered for, and the school can not force the students to vote. Instead the school is merely ensuring the student has the ability to participate in voting. Further, to ensure privacy once the application was completed the student would seal the application in an addressed and stamped envelope, so as to preserve their right to privacy.
Further another way to help students take an interest in civic involvement is to require a research project within the required American Government class. The project should cover research into all the statewide and national political parties, and a summary of their positions on major issues; the issues ranging from abortion and economics to gun laws and foreign policy - health care - social security etc.
