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How young poll workers may save Americans from Election Day chaos

Isaiah Murtaugh

September 16, 2020 |

USA Today |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

Organizations ran campaigns to recruit young people to work as poll workers, addressing shortages due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Hundreds of thousands of high school and college students, as well as recent graduates, signed up to fill the gaps. Social media provided an effective recruitment tool, and the diverse coalition called Power to the Polls, that includes MTV, Uber, Starbucks, and others, got 400,000 people to sign up. Some coalition partners offer paid time off to their employees for working at polls and states, such as Georgia, offer poll worker compensation, which was a draw for young people.

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Schools rarely teach climate change outside of science class. Teachers are changing that.

Natasha Piñon

September 11, 2020 |

Mashable |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

Climate Change lessons are lacking even in science classes. This article identifies a variety of methods that educators can take to incorporate climate change into the classroom. Examples include things like incorporating climate change into non-science classes, creating interdisciplinary courses, and keeping the issue non-partisan. "They just want to be told the truth. They want to acknowledge that they're angry," Metzger-Carter said. "So, I tell them the truth. I tell them that their voices are way more powerful than mine. Then, I step out of the way."

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Why We Should Lower the Voting Age to 16

James A. Anderson

July 20, 2020 |

Next City |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States

Research shows that voting at a young age leads to lifelong civic engagement and several cities and countries have lowered their voting ages. In the handful of democracies that allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote, they also show that they turnout in large numbers. Austria was the first EU country to allow 16-year-olds to vote and in 2014 their turnout was 64%, compared to 56% for voters 18-20. Takoma Park, Maryland allows 16-year-olds to vote, and in 2015 45% of them turned out compared to 21% overall. The national movement is slow, and not gaining a lot of traction, but changes can happen at the local level.

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Texas's High School Voter Registration Law Fails to Live Up to Ideals

James Russell

July 02, 2020 |

Next City |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Texas

A Texas law requiring high school principals to register eligible student voters has failed because it is unequally carried out, not enforceable or tracked, and other obstacles to vote prevent students from casting ballots. While the law was an impressive attempt to increase the civic participation of young people, many high schools have not participated. A 2019 report shows that only 38% of schools with at least 20 seniors requested voter registration forms. A confounding obstacle is a 2013 voter ID law that requires voters to show one of seven forms of photo identification, but student IDs are not eligible

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Advocates, teachers aim to help growing number of young Texas voters wield their power

Vicky Camarillo

March 11, 2020 |

Corpus Christi Caller Times |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Texas

Organizations and educators in Texas work to increase voter engagement among young people. Schools must provide voter registrations, but many don't, so some teachers register students and teach the importance of civic participation. Several groups also work to get high school and college-age voters to the polls. MOVE Texas and Texas Rising registered thousands of young voters on National Voter Registration Day in 2019. Utilizing technology, going to where young people are, and teaching media literacy increased civic engagement among young people in 2018, although the turnout was still relatively low at 25%.

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There's a nationwide shortage of poll workers. Cities are relying on teens for help

Rory Linnane

January 23, 2020 |

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

Many cities are turning to 16- and 17-year-olds to address poll worker shortages. Election officials say the students are also more tech savvy, racially and ethnically diverse, and enthusiastic. 400 students in Minneapolis, which has the highest turnout in midterm elections, made up 16% of all poll workers and were at 131 of its 132 polling places. Milwaukee has had less success recruiting students. In 2016, the last year they reported this data, students made up just 1% of poll workers. Structural barriers caused by high poverty rates and much lower compensation than other cities likely limit success.

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The Kids Are Alright, and They're Fixing Their Neighborhoods After Natural Disasters

Monica Humphries

September 05, 2019 |

NationSwell |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Rockaway, New York

In starkly unequal Rockaway, Queens, New York, a group of 60 young people organize grassroots campaigns to equalize outcomes across race and class lines in the Rockaway Youth Task Force. Just a year after its founding Hurricane Sandy hit, and the RYTF really came into its own when it turned a vacant, half-acre lot into a thriving youth-run farm. The group also successfully lobbied the city to extend a bus line that gave over 10,000 more residents transportation access.

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Young voting advocates take up the fight against suppression

Milan Polk

August 29, 2019 |

The GroundTruth Project |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Greenville, South Carolina

Young advocates for voting rights are fighting back against laws that make it difficult for young people and other marginalized groups to register to vote. Through public campaigns, lawsuits, and voter registration drives, these youth advocates are taking action as their peers come of age to vote.

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Teens In Transition Program shows promise at reducing crime

Kevin Holmes

June 28, 2019 |

KSHB-TV |

Broadcast TV News |

Under 3 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Kansas City, Missouri

Collaborative efforts targeting adult-peer mentoring in Kansas City, Missouri have resulted in less crime and increased trust among participants. Focusing on high-risk teens and young adults, the program known as Teens in Transition connects law enforcement with youth members to work together on an art project over a 9-week span.

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'Hate is always local': the Swedish city that said no to neo-Nazis

David Crouch

May 01, 2019 |

The Guardian |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Sweden, Kungälv

The city of Kungälv, Sweden, with only 20,000 residents, developed a successful initiative to prevent the spread of neo-Nazis after the murder of a fourteen year-old anti-racist activist in 1995. Armed with the theory that "hate is always local," a local teacher created the Tolerance Project, held workshops with local teenagers and took them on trips to Holocaust sites. Now the "Kungälv model" is being practiced and adapted to local contexts around Sweden.

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