Philly’s youth-vote summit reverberates right up to Election Day!
by Zack Boyd
“If everybody got registered and voted, let me tell you, we would not have a school funding issue, we would not have a gun crisis issue!”
So says Steven Greenbaum, Associate Director of Educational Technology at Friends Select School and organizer of the Student Civic and Community Engagement Summit earlier this term.
There is an urgency in Steve Greenbaum’s voice when he talks about new voters. As a high school faculty member, he sees how strongly his students feel about issues like the environment and gun violence, and he wants them to learn how to make their voices heard.
“We want our students to turn their emotions into actions,” he said at the summit.
The upcoming election carries a lot of weight for Philly, the biggest city in one of the biggest swing states. In close elections, like this one, young voters in Philly can make a big difference. Although it’s hard to get reliable numbers on the whole Gen Z, but, according to TheCivicsCenter.org, only about 30% of 18-year-olds nationwide are registered to vote.
At the beginning of the Saturday Summit, 85 students from across Philly filled the Friends Select auditorium to hear the keynote address by Secretary of the Commonwealth of PA, Al Schmidt. He was a Philly Commissioner during the chaotic 2020 election, and is now the top election official in the state. Schmidt appealed to the young voters to not shy away from increasingly polarized coverage.
“[Elections] have certainly become more contentious,” he said. “But despite all the contentiousness, elections are something we should embrace, and celebrate, and not something we should hide from… You’re all lucky to be in a city that is so engaged, with so many nonpartisan and nonprofit organizations for voters.”
Schmidt echoed Greenbaum’s sense of urgency for Gen Z to get out and vote. “Elections really are about the future… keeping in mind that you are voting for these people to represent you. It's a heavy responsibility…Make this election about who you think will be best for you, and your community, and your country.”
After the opening ceremony, students broke out into workshop groups, participating in mock elections and seminars on peaceful protest, voter suppression, and navigating political disagreements, among other important issues.
Ben Yerkes, a junior at Friends Select School said he was frustrated not to be able to vote this election. “I think that most people really want to vote,” said Yerkes, “I know that a lot of kids in my grade want to. And despite [not being eligible], they are educating themselves.”
Oliver Jackson, a senior at Penn Charter who will be voting next month, disagreed. Many of his peers, who juggle sports and school, do not make time to research political issues to learn how what’s happening in their city and state connects to voting.
“When I was researching all my local officials,” he said, “the one that really stood out to me was the one who was saying he wanted to ‘bring more businesses’ into my neighborhood--and I was able to immediately see: ‘Oh my gosh, this is the reason my neighborhood has been gentrified so much’.”
If more young voters got to the polls, says Summit founder Steve Greenbaum, “[Elected officials] would be listening to our students, and worried about their vote, and doing something about it.”
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