I Care About Politics

Thinking back on my time in school, so many of my memories involve politics and civic engagement. To me, politics matter because they make up so many of these memories, both positive and negative. They matter because I care about what is going to happen to where I live and go to school. When I think of politics and civic engagement, I think of… 

1. Wishing my dad would become president so that we could live in the White House

2. Learning about the 3 branches of government!

3. Voting in my 4th-grade election for Barack Obama

4. Running for student council in 5th grade and losing :(

5. Students in my classes getting mad at teachers for being “too political”

6. Running for student council again in 9th grade and losing :(

7. After two failed attempts, finally being elected as student council president

8. Taking AP Government senior year and finally engaging in meaningful political conversations with my classmates and teachers

9. Feeling helpless because I could not vote in the 2016 election

10. Feeling sad and scared after the election

11. My government teacher providing me with a voter registration form and a stamp

12. Government class field trip to Trump’s inauguration…

13. Continued trip to the Women’s March!

14. Government class field trip to our school board elections

15. And many more experiences in college (including being called to Jury Duty!)

I am fortunate to have grown up in a home where people discussed politics even though we did not agree on many policies. Additionally, I am grateful that my school district valued civic education, and my teachers taught me what it means to be an engaged community member. Growing up, I didn’t realize that other school districts didn’t teach their students about the three branches of government or the names of their congresspeople. My mom shared this video from The Daily Show with my family yesterday. It documents the students in Rhode Island who are suing the US government for not providing them proper civic classes in public schools.

One way that we can collaborate and move toward a more equitable agenda in our government is through the civic education discussed in The Daily Show video. To put the right people in power, we need to educate future politicians (our youth) about the world around them. And although I guess I am cynical about politicians, I believe that through education we can elect individuals who will have our backs and make the right decisions. And this education is especially necessary in schools. The National Conference of State Legislatures discusses the importance of these classes in schools because “schools are the only institutions with the capacity and mandate to reach virtually every young person in the country.” Naming schools as the most important venue for civic education raises many important questions regarding the quality of our school systems, but I digress.

Overall, I care about politics because of where I come from, where I went to school, and the value my parents put on discussing our community. Ultimately, this is not the case in many schools and communities, and I hope that through activism, like what the Rhode Island students are doing, all schools can provide robust civic education to groom the next generation of politicians.