Reflections on NY Civic Learning Week, March 2023
Why Student Power is the Key to Future Civic Participation
Working with high school students from across New York State to plan this webinar, I wondered what made civic engagement so exciting to us but so unreachable and overwhelming for many of our classmates.
A few weeks ago, in my American Government class, my teacher asked, “Who plans to vote when they turn eighteen?” I watched as only half of the class raised their hands. Many who did not plan to vote claimed confidently that their voices did not matter. This apathy toward civic engagement is not unique, and while I used to be shocked when my classmates or friends felt so unequivocally that politics was not “for them,” I’m now only sad, not surprised. For many of my teenage peers, politics and government are not opportunities to create change but abstract systems too complicated to understand, much less to engage with.
Reflections on Civic Learning Week: From Classroom to Everyday
For me, the most valuable part of the committee was listening.
The experience showed me something I don’t think I had grasped before, which was that change starts in small steps. While we can hope that things reach a national level, issues require group effort to bring attention. As Christopher Marte puts it, “Why deviate the message or the narrative to fit something that is happening on the national level, when we all know that politics is local.”
Welcoming a New Perspective
I go to Allegany-Limestone a school that a majority of listeners may have never heard of. It is a small school in Western New York.
The Tiktok sound “Are you from New York even”? constantly played in my head as I wrapped up a Civic Youth Learning event meeting. Whenever I’m traveling and I’m asked where I’m from, I reply New York, and the response is usually “oh you’re from the city?” Unfortunately, no. I am a student from Allegany, New York, a place I’m sure few to none reading this have ever heard of. Despite the fact that it is a nine-hour drive from the city, I found myself recounting my educational experiences with those of the city, attempting to find common ground.
Bridging Education: Including Students' Voices at the Forefront of School Decision-Making
Four ways to have students' voices present everywhere school decisions are made.
Overall, having students' voices present everywhere school decisions are made means creating meaningful opportunities for students to contribute their perspectives and actively participate in shaping their own education and school environment. It promotes a sense of ownership, empowerment, and inclusivity, which can lead to a more positive and engaging educational experience for students.
Creating the Future Through Youth Voices
To have student voices represented is to give students a say on locking bathroom doors, the level of security within the school, or the structure of budgeting for different departments.
From my experience as a teenager in upstate New York, channeling my voice has been especially difficult, due to the struggle to grab attention from the mentors and administration around me. In Syracuse, New York, spending sixteen years of my life in one place, but jumping from school district to the next, I found it immensely difficult to embrace my voice in a community full of diverging opinions and experiences. After heading into Nottingham High School in 9th grade, I noticed a tremendous number of challenges surrounding the school’s environment, specifically on safety, communication, and relationships. Many of my peers commented on the level of uneasiness in my school due to the administration’s strict solutions to behavior control, with little or no input from the students. Hearing from students all over the school about their experience, I knew I wanted change to happen.
Reflecting on "Beyond the Vote: Civic Participation from Classroom to Community"
My participation in the Civic Learning Week event has led me to witness the importance of civic engagement in my school community.
After learning and participating in the civic learning week event, I felt a massive shift in my perspective of civic education. This event has been one of the most transformational leadership experiences I have been involved in. I have always strived to make my school community a better place for my classmates and myself. The DemocracyReady NY Coalition and its civic education panels covered important topics that will help me transform my school into a more civically engaged environment
Decision Making in Schools: Parents, Teachers, and… Seldom Students
As a young person, I know firsthand how our voices are often not asked for, included, or heard.
To me, youth civic learning includes incorporating student voice into decision-making means adult leaders co-creating schools with the young people who attend the schools. Students should have a level of involvement when it comes to hiring school staff, setting schoolwide policies, and determining the curriculum. Our perspectives and experiences are important.