Civics lessons
Author: Caren Cramer

Program teaches youth about voting, civic engagement

I remember hearing my parents and grandparents comment on the lack of “civics” knowledge acquired during my 1960s public elementary school education.
I recall going with my mother when she voted and seeing those battleship gray metal machines with the half-curtain that opened and closed after each person finished casting his or her votes.
What I had to learn on my own was the importance of voting and its place in civic engagement. Today, in and out of schools, resources exist to help orient children about this profound distinction.

Beyond voting
Kids Voting USA is a nonprofit organization that is nonpartisan in its efforts to prepare young people to be educated and engaged voters.
“The lessons we provide go beyond voting and equate to civic engagement,” says John Barse, president and CEO of Kids Voting USA (KVUSA). “It is a great cause and a great way to get involved without the everyday politics.”
In 1988, three Arizona businessmen founded KVUSA, hoping to improve voter participation through the tradition of having children go with their parents to the polls. KVUSA launched a pilot project in the Phoenix area, which grew to several states within the first few years.
Since then, Kids Voting classroom activities have reached nearly 4 million students in 475 school districts around the country. According to the organization’s fact sheet, the program is unique because it combines civic learning in the classroom with an authentic voting experience that reflects the adult process.
The national office, now in Silver Spring, Md., “works to expand and support our affiliates,” Barse explains.
Fifty-two affiliate chapters are licensed to use Kids Voting USA materials available for grades kindergarten through 12.
“Our affiliates include YMCAs, League of Women Voter organizations, stand-alone 501 (c)(3)s and school districts,” Barse says.
Partners such as election officials, sponsors like State Farm Insurance and volunteers help make the program a real community effort.
“We really find election officials to be very supportive,” says Barse, describing one successful aspect of the partnership at the community level.

A local connection
In Virginia, there is only one KVUSA affiliate serving Frederick, Clarke and Shenandoah counties – Northern Shenandoah Valley in Winchester.
“We’re the only Kids Voting affiliate in the entire state of Virginia, which can be frustrating,” says Shelley Williams, executive director of the Northern Shenandoah Valley affiliate. “Schools and organizations need a local affiliate to go through, so I have to turn down requests from areas outside our region. The school districts within Frederick, Clarke and Shenandoah counties, as well as Winchester City public schools, have licensed and use Kids Voting classroom activities.”
Whether or it’s a presidential election year or not, Williams says that every fall, schools begin to use KVUSA’s course of study.
“It’s a part of the Virginia state SOL (Standards of Learning) testing resources for civic education,” she says.
Private schools and home-schooling parents also may contact Williams for KVUSA materials by sending an e-mail to williamsfamily@wildblue.net. A Web site for the Northern Shenandoah Valley affiliate is under construction and was expected to be launched this fall.

A knowledge gap?
A report released in 2003 completed by the Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools indicates “young people’s political and civic knowledge is inadequate,” due in large part to the lack of civic education as a greater part of the curriculum in most public schools.
Wanting to see for myself just how inadequate today’s students’ civics knowledge might be, I prepared a one-page questionnaire with 11 questions about democracy, voting and such. With the permission of the teacher for whom I was substituting, about 125 sixth-graders in a Washington County, Md., middle school were asked to complete the questionnaire, knowing it would serve as research for this story.
Allowing 10 minutes and granting them immunity if they misspelled words, my random samplings yielded 117 papers returned with attempts at trying to answer any of the questions.
Here are some noteworthy tallies:

• More than 75 percent of the students correctly named the two principal political parties.
• More than 90 percent correctly identified the two presidential candidates for the Nov. 4 election.
• Only 10 students could name all three branches of the federal government.
• More than 80 percent knew the voting age was 18.

The Kids Voting impact
There are more quantitative measures of KVUSA’s impact.
“I’ve seen the value of this program,” Williams says. “It makes kids think voting is cool.”
Barse echoes the success of Kids Voting programs on a national scale.
“Our programs have been shown to have a measurable affect,” he says, citing a study funded by The Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE). “In communities with Kids Voting USA programs, young adults tend to register and turn out to vote at a higher rate,” Barse says.
The 2003 paper completed for the Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools reports that “rigorous evaluations show (KVUSA’s) positive effects on students’ attention to news, discussion of current events with their families, and knowledge, especially among low-income participants.”
Another positive side effect of students involved in Kids Voting programs is that their parents vote at significantly higher rates than other adults.
“Since the kids know the importance of voting, they help the adult understand it by getting them to vote,” Williams says.
Barse explains further that participation in the program peaks during election times, with that participation greatly increased during presidential election periods.
“Either way, our programs aim to get the kids deeply engaged in communities and understand the positive impact that can result,” Barse says.

The younger voting age
In July 1971, the United States ratified the 26th Amendment to the Constitution, lowering the voting age from 21 to 18 for state, federal and local elections. Championed since 1942 by Congressman-turned-Sen. Jennings Randolph, D-W.Va., the amendment was introduced 11 times before passage – a testament to Randolph’s persistence and belief that if people were old enough to fight in a war, they should be able to vote. Final passage of the amendment happened during the Vietnam War.
Called the father of the 26th Amendment, Randolph explained his strong faith in young people saying, “They possess a great social conscience, are perplexed by the injustices in the world and are anxious to rectify those ills.”
With this year’s presidential election, 18-year-olds will have voted in the last 10 presidential elections.
So, for whom did those Washington County sixth-graders say they would they vote? Girls favored Democrat Sen. Barack Obama, while the boys favored Republican Sen. John McCain. When all the votes cast were counted, Obama was the winner, 51-46.

Additional resources about civics education and how to help teach children to become involved in their communities can be found on these Web sites:
Kids Voting USA: www.kidsvotingusa.org (To start your own affiliate, contact John Barse, president and CEO of Kids Voting USA, at jbarse@kidsvotingusa.org)
League of Women Voters: www.lwv.org
Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools: www.civicmissionofschools.org
Teachnology: www.teach-nology.com/themes/social/voting/
Education World: www.educationworld.com/a_special/election
The Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement: www.civicyouth.org
National Youth Rights Association: www.youthrights.org

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