Hi all. This thread is specifically for people who wish to join the Youth for Political Involvement movement (the name might not be very original, but I'm open to suggestions). The purpose of the movement is fourfold:

1. Lobby legislators to make government/civics classes mandatory.
2. Encourage open political debate in schools, homes, and through community forums.
3. Raise youth awareness about the issues that affect them and encourage youth interest and involvement in politics.
4. Create open political forums for youth to debate political matters in.

This is just a basic platform. Anyone who'd like to add to it is very welcome to. If you wish to join the movement, please state something to the effect of "I'd like to join the movement". I'll probably work on creating a very basic website for the time being, just to provide some relevant information and contact info.

Id like to join

I think you would get more members if you change the name to Youth for MTV and cheap beer. (a side note I would never be a member of any organization that would have Juber as a member ) I also think Civics classes are already taught universally but I may be wrong.

You may have a point there, but I believe that the free thinking youth of this nation would be more apt to join the present organization.



It's a shame, we can always use more liberals... oh, there I go being partisan again...



Hmm... maybe that's everywhere but Maryville, TN. I highly doubt it, though.


Why are you posting here anyway if you're not adding to the platform or joining?

Taught universally, perhaps. Taught well, I doubt it.

Please do count me in on this one! This is something I feel very strongly about. I would love to see more youth getting involved. Let me know what all I can do, and I'm there!!

I am shocked that these are not taught there! In Michigan, it's a part of our elementary school program, as well as our high school program. It may have been required my freshman year in college, but that was nearly 40 years ago and I'm not certain.

In Fourth grade last year, my daughter took a trip to Lansing to see the legislature in process, meet some of the working pols, etc. I remember going to our State's constitutional Convention when the State Constitution was being rewritten.

Elections brought voting machines into the school; and a day or two before the election, a mock election would be held. We had to know who and what was going to be on the ballot. The secrecy of the ballot was paramount. It was never suggested how we should vote, and we were never asked how we had voted. When my children have asked who I voted for, I gave them the same answer my parents gave me, "It is my duty as a citizen to vote, and I did."

I wrote a letter to President Eisenhower when I was in third grade. I got a response from him, and saw a direct result from writing the letter. I have never been shy since about writing to my representatives.

My ex-wife was a lobbyist for a cause she believed in, and I should probably classify myself that way. For years, in Midland, I knew that our Congressman shopped at the farmer's market every Saturday morning in the summer, and expected people to meet him there and discuss their problems. Nicknames in my email program allow me to email House, Senate, Congress, President, or simply Washington. I contact them too frequently to stop and look up a name.

I would be interested to know how many states do not require the teaching of Civics, Government, and the like. I would expect it was the minority of them, but I have spent my entire life in a state where it is heavily stressed.


I may be old enough to trust no one under thirty, but my daughter isn't. I expect her to go into politics some day. She is strongly opinionated, talks to strangers easily, and feels that it is her duty to run the world. At the age of four, she would walk up to anyone with a cigarette, and say, "You should know that smoking is stupid and dangerous." I wouldn't try that. She however, has a way of being pleasantly persistent about it. She spent about two years trying to get one of my wife's co-workers to quit smoking without success, but was never told to mind her own business either. She plans to be the first woman on Mars. I would not be surprised to see her become President of the United States. She's a bit young, but she's very happy to tell you where she stands on just about anything.


I think that it was W.C. Fields who said, "I would never join any club that would have me for a member." I may be wrong. I expected to find that quotation in my files, and it wasn't there.

The only problem with this is do you really think that there are enough youths in America that would be interested in something like this? I think we have enough problem getting adults to vote, or even have a clue whats going on in society today. Most Americans just dont seem to care whats going on in their nation. Does anyone agree with me on this?

I think its an AWESOME idea... Im just skeptical.

How would we know if there is any youth that would like to participate if we don't ask the question? Most of the youth don't get the chance to voice what they think about politics because (how do I put this without looking like an "ignorant youth") adults don't give us that opportunity. They look at us and think that we don't care about this country, when infact there are MANY teenagers out there who do! Don't let the "bad ones" fool you, there are the good ones out there.


I agree with you on this, most Americans don't seem to care about what's going on here in America, however, why stop there? Why just put your head in the sand and go..."Well no one really cares anymore, why try?" If we DON'T try then we are responsible for not even giving them that opportunity. Adults and youth alike.

It must be a fairly prevalent problem in our schools, so prevalent that the senator from my district ran with "bring back mandatory civics classes" as part of his platform. To my knowledge, he hasn't actually done anything about that yet (but what do you expect from the right? )



I will look into the number of civics classes around the country.



I think that most kids around this country are very interested in politics, however they do not voice their opinions because the adults of this country simply do not listen to them. You can't deny that this is happening, either. Part of the problem is the attitude of the adults of this country, in respect to how the youth of this nation feel about politics.

Just an example:
Last week I wrote a letter to the editor in our local newspaper, to complain about the County Commission and the way that they are spending our money on themselves and not education. Surprisingly enough, I realized that a great many people actually read the letters to the editor. My mom told me that at her office, she was told three times that it was nice of her to let me put my name on her letter! When she explained to them that I was in fact the one who had written the letter, she said they just cocked their eyebrows and walked off.

This just shows that most adults in this country are unable or unwilling to accept that a youth in this country might actually care about or have an opinion about politics in this country! I know that most kids in this country feel the way that I do about this issue, and that this organization could very well show the adults of this country that we do care, and it may serve to bring out some of those kids who care about politics, but don't know what to do about that feeling.