Colorado Youth Summit: Introductory Lesson

Transcription

1 Colorado Youth Summit: Introductory Lesson Lesson Components Student pre-survey (required): Return surveys to CELD, P.O. Box 18490, Denver, CO CELD will reimburse you for the cost of postage. Introduction to Summit and participating schools; opportunity for students to create content about their school to be placed on the project Wiki ( Introduction to issues and voting via Survey Monkey ( we encourage students to comment on the reasons behind their votes on the project Wiki, under the Discussion tab.

2 Student Pre-Survey Materials Needed: Pre-survey related to civic engagement Procedure: Ask students to complete the Colorado Youth Summit pre-survey, explaining that the surveys will be sent to the sponsors of a program the class will be participating in. Students names will not be associated with the surveys, so they should be completely honest in answering. Point out that pre- and post-surveys will be matched by student birthday and initials, so students anonymity will be protected while allowing the project to compare answers before and after taking part in the project. Return the completed surveys to CELD, P.O. Box 18490, Denver, CO CELD will reimburse you for your postage.

3 Teacher: Student Initials: Student Birthdate (month/day/year): Student Pre-Survey 1. Out of the last seven days, how many days have you done each of the following. Please give a response from 0 days to 7 days for each item.. Read a newspaper or newsmagazine Listened to news on radio or television Read a news site or political blog Listened to a podcast of political news Talked about a political issue with another student Talked about a political issue with a parent or other adult 2. Do you agree or disagree with the following statements? Please write in a response for each statement: SA = Strongly Agree, A = Agree Somewhat, N = Neither Agree nor Disagree, D = Disagree Somewhat, SD = Strongly Disagree I feel that I have a pretty good understanding of the important political issues facing our state. I think that I am as well-informed about politics and government as most people. Public officials don t care much what people like me think. When I hear news about politics, I try to figure out if they re just telling one side of the story. I listen to people talk about politics even when I know that I disagree with them. I can make a difference in my community. 3. When you think about your life after high school, how likely is it that you would do each of the following? Please write in a response for each item using the following scale: 1 = Not at all likely, 2 = Somewhat Unlikely, 3 = Somewhat Likely, 4 = Very Likely. Vote Contact or visit someone in government who represents your community Contact a newspaper, radio, or TV talk show to express your opinion on an issue Sign an or written petition Participate in political activities such as marches, demonstrations, poetry slams, or public fora Run for office Campaign for a political candidate Take part in political discussions, in person or online Do volunteer work to address environmental or social problems

4 Introduction to Summit Materials Needed: List of schools participating in the Colorado Youth Summit (provided) and a Colorado map (optional) Materials for student use in creating maps Access to project Wiki: Procedure: 1. Tell students that they are going to have an opportunity to take part in discussing important Colorado issues selected by students themselves with students from other schools around Colorado. Show the list of schools participating in the Colorado Youth Summit and, if possible, help students locate all the schools on a map of Colorado. 2. Encourage students to speculate on which schools students might have views most similar to or different from their own? What is the basis of their hypotheses? (Reasons students might suggest: similar demographics, experience growing up in a similar setting, geographic location, similar results in the recent election.) What might students in these locations hypothesize about your school? How could students explore diversity of opinions and common ground with students in these diverse locations? (Accept all answers.) 3. Ask students: If someone from one of these schools came to our community and had time to see one thing, what would you recommend that they see? Why? Allow time for a few students to share their ideas. Then organize students into groups of four or five and ask each group to create a map that would help students around Colorado better understand your school. The map can show something about why your community s location in the state gives it a special character, details about what makes your school special, or any other information that will be helpful to other students in getting to know students at your school. Explain that students can select all or several of the maps to display on a Wiki developed for the Colorado Youth Summit, in which your class will be participating. The posters could be completed in or out of class. The selected works should be posted on the wiki: (click on your school s name on the righthand side of the page, then click on Edit) no later than February Explain that students will have the opportunity to discuss issues with students across Colorado through the Colorado Youth Summit. If students do not know what a summit is, explain that it is a meeting of high-ranking officials, in this case young citizens. At the Summit, student delegates will also have an opportunity to interact with policymakers and experts on the chosen issues. Share with students the quotation from Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter: In a democracy, the highest office is the office of citizen. 5. Explain that there will be several ways to participate in the Summit: As one of the class s two members of the Student Summit Advisory Council; members of the Student Summit Advisory Council will be paired with students from another school to

5 provide (a) a mechanism for students from outside the Metro area to have input to Advisory Council and (b) a means for students from every school to get to know students from at least one other school well during the Summit process (the list of school pairings is provided below). As one of the class s four or five delegates to the Youth Summit. Through online communication with Summit organizers, other young people, and expert resource people. Answer any questions students have and encourage them to visit the Wiki frequently to see what other schools are posting. School Pairings: Centennial High School Northglenn High School Cheraw High School Gateway High School Gunnison High School Overland High School Lake City Community School Mountain Range High School Manitou Springs High School Cherokee Trail High School Valley High School Denver Center for International Studies Wray High School Thornton High School Chatfield High School Montbello High School

6 Schools Participating in the Colorado Youth Summit Centennial High School, San Luis Chatfield High School, Littleton Cheraw High School Cherokee Trail High School, Aurora Denver Center for International Studies Gateway High School, Aurora Gunnison High School Lake City Community School Manitou Springs High School Montbello High School, Denver Mountain Range High School, Westminster Northglenn High School Overland High School, Aurora Thornton High School Valley High School, Kersey Wray High School

7 Introduction to Issues and Voting Materials Needed: Colorado Youth Summit ballot to project ( Descriptions of Colorado Youth Summit Issues handout (provided) Access to Survey Monkey Procedure: 1, Project the Colorado Youth Summit ballot and ask students to comment on whether they are interested in these issues or think they are important to people in Colorado. Encourage student discussion, moving toward a shared understanding of what makes an issue interesting (Possible factors: it affects students personally, it relates to a subject with which students are intrigued, it relates to an important right or value of citizens in our democracy) and important (Possible factors: it affects many people, its consequences are very serious, it is complex and thus difficult to resolve, it represents a conflict between important rights and/or values in our democracy). 2. Tell students that, in addition to creating the information about their school to put on the project wiki, another important early step in taking part in the Summit will be to vote on which issues they would like to have the Summit focus on. They will first vote on Survey Monkey ( as individuals. Each student can vote for one issue. After the votes are tallied, the list will be narrowed to four, including one write-in issue nominated by students. Classes will then vote and teachers will send in the winning issue for their class. The time frame for the voting will be as follows: January Students vote on Survey Monkey January 27 (evening) CELD tallies the results and sends out the final ballot to teachers. January 28 and 31 Teachers take an in-class vote and send CELD the results The final two issues selected will be announced February 2; directions for preparing for the first Student Summit Advisory Council will also be provided at that time. 3. Give students copies of the Colorado Youth Summit Issues handout so they can learn more about the issues before voting. You may want to allow time in class for students to vote. Also encourage students to go to the project Wiki to post reasons for their selections. You may wish to demonstrate to students how to post on the Wiki. Note: To post comments to the Discussion board on the Wiki, students must create an account on Wikispaces. They can do this themselves; it is free and they create their own passwords. They do not need to have a special password to log onto the Colorado Youth Summit Wiki.

8 Handout Colorado Youth Summit Issues Below are the issues on the ballot for the Colorado Youth Summit, along with a brief description of each issue. Note that the ballot also includes an Other category, where you can suggest an issue you would like to have considered. One student-suggested issue will be on the final ballot. Should students be subject to school punishments for material posted on their personal websites or social networking sites that does not violate the First Amendment? Students sometimes post reckless, inconsiderate, and embarrassing details about themselves, their friends, their teachers, and their schools on the Web. Schools claim that these postings interfere with the learning environment at school. These postings may also violate school rules or honor codes (for athletes, for example). Students respond that their postings are protected by the First Amendment. Thus, they should not be subject to school punishments for such postings. Court rulings on cases involving this issue have been inconsistent. Should more Colorado water resources be diverted to support urban growth or should urban growth be limited to ensure enough water is available for agriculture? With the growth of the Denver Metro area, the stress on the state s water resources is great. If cities continue to access agricultural water rights, Colorado s farmers and ranchers may not have enough water to use their land productively. Some people argue that urban growth should be limited. They also believe more can be one to cut down on water use and waste in urban areas. This is necessary to preserve agriculture and the quality of life in rural communities. Others argue that urban growth is inevitable. The urban population a majority of Colorado s people must have enough water to maintain the quality of life of which Colorado is proud. Should high school graduates who are unauthorized immigrants be able to pay in-state tuition (DREAM Act)? Each year nearly 50,000 unauthorized immigrants graduate from U.S. high schools. Most of these young people were brought to the United States by their parents. Their home is the United States. However, they must pay the same college tuition as foreign exchange students. If and when they graduate, they may have difficulty getting a job in their chosen field because they do not have legal status. Advocates of the DREAM Act, which would allow unauthorized immigrants who meet certain requirements to pay in-state tuition at colleges in their state, say education is a basic human right. They also say it is a good investment, since it will allow thousands of young people to become productive citizens. Opponents say the DREAM Act rewards illegal behavior. They say it will simply encourage more people to enter the United States illegally. Should juveniles who commit serious violent crimes be tried as adults? Each year in Colorado, more than 1500 juveniles are arrested for serious crimes. Prosecutors can file charges directly in adult court against young people 14 or older who are charged with a class 1 or 2 felony, any violent

9 felony, use of a deadly weapon, or other enumerated crimes. Younger children (12-13) or young people charged with lesser crimes can be waived to adult court by a juvenile court judge. Those who support trying young people as adults say that serious crimes require serious punishments. They also argue that trying juveniles as adults can help reduce juvenile crime. Those who oppose trying young people as adults argue that juveniles brains and decision-making ability are not fully developed. Thus, they should not be harshly punished for bad decisions. Instead, they should receive counseling and rehabilitation. Should communities be able to ban medical marijuana dispensaries despite voter approval of the medical marijuana amendment? In 2000, the voters of Colorado approved an amendment to the state s constitution legalizing the medical use of marijuana. In 2009, the U.S.Attorney General announced that the Department of Justice would no longer raid medical marijuana dispensaries. As a result, the number of dispensaries has grown rapidly. Some cities have acted to ban dispensaries. They argue that dispensaries bring crime to the community. They also worry that the increased availability and use of marijuana makes it seem harmless to young people. Not every one agrees. Some people argue that banning dispensaries goes against the will of the people, who passed the medical marijuana amendment. They also say that banning dispensaries causes a hardship for chronically ill people in those communities. What should be done about low-performing schools? What to do about schools in which students perform poorly on required tests is a major question. One approach to improving such schools is to require them to make drastic changes replace their principals and some or all of the teachers. Another approach is to close the schools, perhaps to reopen in a new format (such as a charter school). Still another approach is to devote resources to support teachers and administrators in working collaboratively to improve teaching and learning. Should Colorado adopt a Responsible Bystander Law requiring people who witness crimes to report them? Under current law, ordinary citizens are not generally required to assist or rescue someone in distress or even to report a crime. Supporters of a Responsible Bystander Law say that required reporting of serious crimes is consistent with other laws that require people to look after the welfare of others. This law will increase people s sense of responsibility for their community. It may also help prevent crime. Opponents say that a law that requires people to assist others in danger is unrealistic and will not work. In addition, such a law cannot be enforced. There is often no way to decide whether a person was in a reasonable position to report a serious crime. Vote from January (6 p.m.) at Go to the project Wiki and click on the Discussion tab to post the reasons for your vote: