The students of Baltimore County have spoken: Sen. Barack Obama should be the next president of the United States.
The students are some of thousands in the Baltimore area who took part this past week in mock elections. Obama took about 69 percent of third- through 12th-grade students’ votes in Baltimore County, compared with Sen. John McCain’s 26 percent.
Their votes represented the culmination of weeks of lessons focused on one of the most stirring presidential elections in recent history, and throughout the Baltimore area, students’ passion for politics has flared as many find an interest they never before noticed.
Edena Hutchins, a 12-year-old in eighth grade at Edgewood Middle School, is one of few in her highly opinionated social studies class who is still diligently picking apart the issues and trying to determine which candidate best represents her.
“I try to look at it as, who can bring the country together?” Hutchins said. “Now that we’re older and about to go into high school, we’re talking about how it affects us. Before, I just said, ‘John Kerry — that’s what my mom says.’ ”
Hutchins’ class heard last week from the leaders of Harford County’s Democratic and Republican central committees, and students spent time deciding where they stand on major issues so they could see which candidate most shares their views.
The students then voted at nationalmockelection.org, a Web site devoted to boosting young people’s interest in elections.
In Baltimore County, the school system began running its own mock elections for students in 2004. According to survey results, students were “somewhat” influenced by their families’ views, and got most of their information from TV news — not negative campaigns advertisements.
Students at Vincent Farm Elementary in White Marsh used hand-held devices to vote on the issues — including whether teachers should be paid according to their students’ performance, and whether students from low-income families should receive more money to attend college. Their votes were displayed instantly on an interactive screen at the front of the room.
And at Randallstown High School, Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin taught a ninth-grade U.S. government class Wednesday and encouraged students to get involved in government.
“You know how we worry about our future, and you look at kids, and you look at college?” said Jessica Ryan, Hutchins’ social studies teacher at Edgewood Middle. “But it’s good to know” students are getting involved.
The student voters may be informed, but don’t trust them to be accurate. In the past presidential election, the majority of Baltimore County students voted for Sen. John Kerry.
