Civics Education Student Activities
Hands-On Experiences That Involve Students in the Political Process
Oct 8, 2009
Involving students in any grade level in the political process is important. This participation takes on greater significance in high school, however, since many seniors will turn eighteen during their final years in high school, allowing them the opportunity to exercise their civic duty at the ballot box. Civics and politics classes are simply not enough, particularly if – as in many states, these classes take place in the freshmen or sophomore years. Hands-on involvement is a step above the text book and the power point.
Student Activities to Promote Political Participation
Every high school facilitates a “student council,” ostensibly to employ democratic methods of leadership. Too often, however, students fail to connect this with real-life political realities. Student council service is a resume and transcript builder. Many schools abuse the process by using student council members for a host of free-labor activities such as hospitality at key school events. Some schools even grant community service hours for student council service, debasing the entire reason for having a student council.
There are other activities that afford direct participation in the electoral process both before an election and on Election Day. Here are a few suggestions:
- Attending Town Meetings and sharing the experience with the class
- Setting up student clubs related to the political parties
- Holding school-wide mock elections
- Attending local candidate debates and forums
- Volunteering for work in political campaigns
- Working the polls on Election Day if eighteen or older
- Assisting with voter registration drives
- Driving voters to the polls on Election Day that have no other way to get there
- Writing a Letter to the Editor
- Inviting elected officials to speak to students in a classroom setting
- Holding mock debates or simulations of key campaign issues
Preventive Measures Teachers Must Take
Before inviting elected officials to speak, teachers must determine school policy regarding outside speakers. This is particularly true in an election year. If a political candidate represents a particular party, every attempt must be made to balance the presentation by inviting a candidate from the other parties. If the ultimate purpose is civics education, strict neutrality must be observed in any activity. At no time should certain political sides or issues be favored.
Any activity that might stimulate criticism should be approved by school administration. Additionally, parental sign-off permission slips should be collected and kept on file. These permission slips should detail the activity, explain the relevance in terms of civics education, and invite suggestions. Whenever the possibility of community or parental criticism arises, proper steps must be taken to obtain necessary approvals.
Web Based Activities
The internet provides a number of excellent neutral sites that provide students, as well as the general public, with a gamut of political information. An excellent example of one such site is votesmart.org. Additionally, almost all candidates running for an office, whether local, state-wide, or national, maintain web sites. Finally, there are independent sites such as Moveon.org that present partisan viewpoints.
Developing web-based activities will enhance student understanding of critical campaign issues. Students can be asked to explore the political views and platforms of differing candidates and evaluate the claims and solutions offered. A written assignment might be a formal position paper that discusses the views highlighted on candidate web pages or sites maintained by political parties.
Student Involvement is Crucial
Depending on time considerations and curriculum guidelines, activities that actively engage students in the political process are crucial. Far too many students graduate high school with less than a rudimentary understanding of the Democratic process. Rote memorization of checks and balances or the elements of American government are simply not enough. A concerted and creative plan to involve students in a variety of activities will better insure intelligent voter participation by an age group that, until the last election, seldom bothered to become involved.
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