.
Project
Citizen TeachesYouth the Power of
Democracy
by
Judah Ken Freed
Youth
engaged in politics present their case at
annual meeting for National Conference of
State Legislators.
.
"Project
Citizen is teaching young people to
monitor and participate in the legislative
process as a way of socializing a lifelong
commitment to active citizenship," said
Michael Fischer from the Center for Civic
Education in Calabassas, Calif.
In a partnership
between CCE and the National Conference of
State Legislature (NCSL), Project Citizen
as a nationwide program giving middle
school students hands-on experience
formulating and advocating new laws on the
local, state and federal
levels.
"We invite students
to take on real-world problems," Fischer
said, "so there's lots of cooperative
learning in teams that gives them a chance
to practice higher-order thinking along
with developing their social interaction
skills."
"The goal is for
students to know they can make a real
difference in the world," said Barbara
Miller, Colorado state coordinator for
Project Citizen. "We want them to see the
importance of participating as a citizen
in our representative
democracy."
In a crowded session
at the annual NCSL conference, the process
was explained and demonstrated by 8th
Grade students from Grant Ranch Middle
School in Lakewood. With support from
Denver Public Schools educator Joanne
Eickman, the youthful team presented to
NCSL attendees their case for a new
juvenile car seat law in Colorado.
Repeating what
happens in statewide competition among
schools, the Grant Ranch students walked
the audience through a four-panel display
that detailed the problem, examined
alternative solution, developed a plan of
action consistent with constitutional
principles, and then proposed an action
plan.
"We learned the hard
way to stress that the plans must be
constitutional," said Miller, who recalled
a student proposal to send all street gang
members to jail without trial.
"The great thing
about the program is that the students are
not satisfied until they've actually taken
concrete steps to implement their action
plan after the contest is over," said
Fischer.
The Grant Ranch
students, for example, contacted Susan
Liddle at Legislative Counsel and their
state senator Norma Anderson, SD22-R.
Their plan called for front-facing booster
seats to be required for all children ages
four through eight and up to 80 pounds.
They were concerned that the Colorado law
(up to age 6 and 60 pounds) was not enough
of a protection.
After the
presentation, the audience critiqued the
students' performance for both style and
substance. Suggestions ranged from public
speaking tips to the kinds of authorities
they could cite that would be more
convincing for legislators.
Asked if they would
participate in Project Citizen again if
they could, all the students raised their
hands. "We find nationwide that 98 percent
of the students would do the program
again" said Fischer.
One of the students
said she was so excited by the experience
that she plans on running for President
someday, "that is, if I don't become a
movie star first." In politics today, one
job does not preclude the
other.
Revised
from first publication in The Colorado
Statesman
August 2002
(c) 2002-03 by Judah Ken Freed
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