The Excitement Builds | Rowsey Blog

The Excitement Builds

February 29, 2008

As an educator, I am very thrilled to see the excitement generated by this year’s democratic primary election amongst young voters. Opinions vary and allegiances sometimes change, but getting the youth of America energized for a presidential campaign is something that most pundits and politicians would have told you was pointless, and perhaps impossible. Historical trends and data prove that younger Americans have been apathetic to politics and left those decisions up to their older counterparts.

But is change in the air? One cannot turn on the TV and watch Fox News or CNN and not see story upon story reporting on the youth vote turning out for Obama this year. As a student of political science, I know that politicians typically pander to the older amongst our populace that are backed by powerful lobbies such as AARP. We know that programs such as social security and medicare have been called the third rail of politics and politicians no matter what their party allegiance, dared not make substantive changes to these programs.

But are we witnessing something different this election cycle? I notice in the schools that kids are excited to talk about the election and are taking steps to inform themselves on the important issues surrounding us today. They are becoming versed on the stances of all candidates on these issues. Some still support a candidate simply because of the viewpoints of their parents. Others still rely on gossip and innuendo for their main source of information, others are really engaging themselves in this process.

But my question to you is what is the role of the school in educating students on these issues? Is it enough to talk about world events and where the candidates stand on these issues? Should high school administrators take students out of classes on a field trip to participate in an Obama political rally as did happen in some high schools in the central Ohio area? Should teachers discuss with students the issues, and their own personal viewpoints? What happens if the teacher is misinformed or misguided?

In my opinion, it is a good thing to have open dialog in school that pertains to politics. Reaching students at a young age and helping to develop a sense of civic duty is part of the job description of an educator. But, should my political beliefs influence those of my students?

Posted by Jason Rowsey | Filed Under Politics, Westerville 

Comments

2 Responses to “The Excitement Builds”

  1. Betsey Krause on March 15th, 2008 11:26 am

    Classes should absolutely talk about these candidates within an appropriate context. As the parent of a politically aware high school senior, I want our new voters to understand different issues and different constituency groups. Can this be done without disclosing your own biases? Sure it can be.. One does not have to be Hindi to share Hindi teaching in a comparative religions class.

    What happened in Westerville the other week was an absolute teachable moment. If teachers in our district did not talk about it, let alone participate, as many were seen doing on AP photos, they would have lost a valuable message.

  2. admin on March 15th, 2008 8:14 pm

    Betsey - Thanks so much for the post! I will be adding your site to my blogroll as well.

    I agree with you that it was an outstanding opportunity for students to learn about politics up close and personal when the democratic candidates come to our local high schools. As you may have seen in some other posts, I was at the Clinton rally at North.

    My only concern is when a teacher, or another adult in a capacity of having influence over a child, discusses the issues in a way that they are advocating for one candidate or another, that it can have the opposite of the desired effect. For example, if I am a young republican in the classroom listening to a teacher talk about the greatness of Clinton or Obama, I may feel that my opinion doesn’t count for much.

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