Youth councils are sorely lacking in our district as they are a means of educating our community and the youth in schools about the importance of local politics and how voting plays a role in our society. We can implement a Youth City Council which involves all high schools to actively play a role in government to give them hands on feel. This can be accomplished by funding programs from organizations currently working in our district to help out.
This will foster the development of informed, responsible participation in civic life by young citizens. This will be accomplished through traditional (neighborhood canvassing) and non-traditional outreach strategies (parties and concerts) to empower young people and traditionally disenfranchised voters. Our strategy is as follows: The primary activity will be to provide nonpartisan political awareness classes to focus on the civic responsibility of the youth to be involved in their government. Classes will engage young and disenfranchised people who feel they are shut out of the political process, and in turn train them to be effective organizers in their own communities. No person, no matter what age, will be refused these classes. All classes that are given will be available to the general public. the council will maintain a website that provides referral information and suggestions for strengthening civic responsibility among youths and all civic citizens alike. Reference material will also be available concerning the importance of political participation and how it impacts society. All reference materials will all be found in emails and bulletin board postings. Council members will present information about political participation to local schools, service clubs, and churches through multimedia presentations.
The Youth Council which I propose be created will include ambassadors from each area, to help develop ways to make neighborhoods safer, stop urban violence and help foster a better relationship with law enforcement.
The Youth Council will consist of Yonkers & Mt. Vernon’s High School’s elected student council’s President representing their school each month to discuss issues that affect their school and the surrounding area that the school resides.
Each President will be responsible for delegating the collection of petitions from community members for each issue that needs to be addressed within their community. This will give them hands on experience on how the political system is used to get things done
The Youth Council will also provide legal counsel to their piers before a student is given any punishment. A mock program will be setup to teach students basics of legal counsel and how it can be applied in “Real situations”. Every day students are suspended and just “getting the day off”. While these same students end up dropping out of school and just becoming a statistic. We need to setup a quasi boarding military camp as a more meaningful punishment (instead of just giving out vacation days).
