Young New Yorkers are having a chance this year to get involved in the primary process. While New York is late in the primary process, it offers the most delegates before California’s June 7 race. It’s also a state where three presidential candidates have ties and have been campaigning for weeks.
“Local presidential primary stops provide civics classroom,” the Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat & Chronicle reported.
Many high school teachers spoke of engaging their students in the election process through online quizzes and taking students to campaign rallies for class assignments. They’ve also been incorporated into the debate club, and students attend rallies of their choice.
“The hope is that students here will retain their up-close knowledge of how the process works,” Democrat & Chronicle noted about rallies, even if “the politicians’ interest in Monroe County is sure to wane after its citizens cast their primary votes next week.”
The involvement with high school teachers bringing their students to rallies or showing clips is an exciting way to bring students into the process. Students see how the sausage is made and the forms that American political participation takes. One day cannot be the only way in which students are so engaged, though, with how lackluster civics education is in the United States.
Some students will be old enough to vote in the primary or in the November election. That includes two students in Michael Marra’s social studies class at Spencerport High School, though neither have decided whom they support.
The issue of engagement is also a problem for young voters who have graduated high school. That millennials are the largest voting bloc does not seem to have resonated with all of them when they learn about the election through social media or what their friends think.
Politicians may not be the only ones forgetting about the importance of counties they’ve campaigned in once they’ve lost. Student voters ought to continue their civics education, and interest in the election process, beyond just a couple rallies.
