Cultivating Our Future Voters

Voter turnout in the U.S. is lower than in almost any other developed democratic country. The lowest turnout is expected among voters 18 through 24, with fewer than 30% of this group likely to cast ballots. Young people cite these reasons for not voting: politics is irrelevant to their lives, candidates do not address issues that concern them, they have not been taught enough about politics in school to pique their interest. The Los Angeles Student Voices project was initiated in January by the Annenberg School for Communication at USC to bring the mayoral campaign into area high schools. Karen Karlitz spoke with THOMAS A. HOLLIHAN, associate dean at Annenberg, who directs the project.

The project strives to be nonpartisan because it is all about civic identity and empowering kids, teaching them to be engaged as opposed to favoring one candidate or another. The assumption we make is that political participation is habit-forming. If we can get them when they’re young, they’re likely to be lifelong voters.

Student Voices was created at the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania for last year’s Philadelphia mayoral race. It is in progress here and in San Antonio. Almost 4,000 students from 44 L.A. Unified high schools and Cathedral High, a local private school, are participating. Two computers were placed in each school, giving students access to their own Web site where they can follow the mayoral campaign, exchange questions with the candidates, discuss issues with students, participate in polls and connect with other government sites.

What we’re trying to determine is how students who are left to their own devices with an Internet-connected computer will use it and how much attention they pay to the mayoral race. Also, is there likely to be more interest and knowledge of political issues in this election among students who participate in our curriculum? After the election, we’ll look back to see what the usage patterns were and what knowledge the students acquired about the election.

Students have researched issues, built a youth-issues agenda of the topics they think the candidates should focus on and done community surveys. They have attended candidate debates, participated in mock debates and invited candidates and staff people to their classrooms. The issues that students are most interested in relate to the quality of their schools. They are concerned about the deteriorating physical plant of the schools. They worry about the commitment of teachers, access to books and the availability of after-school programs. There is also concern about drugs, gang violence and the environment.

When candidates address high school audiences, they find the students very well informed. The students don’t ask questions about the horse race--who’s ahead, who’s behind or can you win--like a lot of reporters do. They focus on the issues and ask questions like, “If you’re not responsible for the schools, how can you assure us that you’ll actually do something to improve their quality?”

The students also have been pressing to get people registered to vote. They go door-to-door in their neighborhoods and set up information booths at their schools or community functions. And we have empowered teachers to play active roles in deciding the type of assignments they want their students to engage in. In this way we can learn which projects produce the greatest excitement and enthusiasm.

I cannot guarantee that a project like this will be funded again. But what I hope happens is that because teachers have learned new techniques for developing curriculum and bringing creative assignments into their classrooms, it will be possible to continue the dialogue.

We’ve really been blessed by the helpful support of the L.A. Unified School District and Supt. Roy Romer, as well as several members of the school board. Also, I can’t say enough about how supportive the mayoral candidates have been. Only about a third of the high school seniors will turn 18 and be eligible to vote in this election, yet the candidates took the time out of their busy schedules to participate in Student Voices events.

We’ve produced a series of half-hour television programs. Both Channel 36 and Adelphia Cable have made commitments to show all four shows.

The Student Voices Web site is https://www.student-voices.org. What you find there might not only make you more enthusiastic about our city’s future, it may also help you decide how to vote Tuesday.