I've Elected to Disenfranchise Them

In an effort to make my students better citizens, I teach them about the the California propositions. They're always quick to complain and point out that it's content that they should be covering in a social studies class instead, but I can justify it because on of our state Language Arts standards is to teach literacy of non-fictional functional documents. Rather than looking at a warrenty or a business letter, I chose the voter information booklet that gives factual information and arguments from both sides for all propositions on the ballot. It covers a learning objective and promotes good citizenship. Win-win!

Last year, the activity went well. Sure the kids moaned about having to read and debate, but since we covered a sexy proposition on that ballot, a proposal for an increase on cigarette taxes, there was automatic buy-in from the students who had opinions before it even started, whether or not they realized it was part of the democratic process. At the end of the lesson, I had the students vote for how they would vote, and as promised, voted in that way.

Unfortunately, none of this year's propositions were too titilating. Transportation? Term limits? Indian gaming could work were it not remarkably complicated. I chose Prop 92, dealing with lowering community college tuition, since most of my students who will be heading to college will be doing it at the junior college level and could have a direct impact on their lives.

It bored them, nonetheless. I admitted that voting isn't often glamorous, which turned them off to the concept even more. I asked how many of them intended to vote one day and in each class only a few students raised their hands. I then asked how many people did not intend to vote, and again, only a few students raised their hands. I'm reasonably sure, however, that those who can't be bothered to raise their hands will be non-voters, as such an act is the epitome of non-voting.

Most disappointing was the fact that many of my smarter students were not interested in voting. When I pressed them, they said because "my vote doesn't count," "the electoral college decides things anyway," and "what's in it for me?" I attempted to dispell the negativity, to moderate success, explaining that by forfeiting your right to vote, you allow others' votes to count more, that the electoral college is only an issue in presidential elections, and that people vote directly on issues that effect their lives.

The kids attempted to read the pamphlet but largely didn't understand it; I don't blame them, that stuff is difficult. When it came time to arguing, all of the kids were lemmings. As soon as someone offered an argument that sounded all right, they latched on to it, without considering other aspects of the issue. When I pushed them to read or think further, they backed down from the challenge, declaring it a waste of time and claiming they will never vote if they have to know so much. Ignorance

What's funny, is throughout the process of the kids just quickly saying "yes," I kept playing devil's advocate to the point where I became convinced of voting against it. The threat of money being depleted from the public K-12 education system to fund community college is the last thing that needs to happen in California. The more times I read the information, the more it became obvious to me that this solution was not the correct one. I had promised my vote to my students' decision, however, so I cast my vote in the affirmative on prop 92. I can't say that I was disappointed when I learned the next day that it had not passed, though.

All of the Indian gambling propositions passed by about 55%, which was somewhat upsetting, but I'll get over it. I can't say I'd never go to an Indian casino anyway. If they served free alcohol like in Vegas, I'd be there today even. Thankfully, the term limit proposition didn't pass, sticking it to the corrupt politicians who introduced it (one of whom was my college graduation speaker -- suck it, Fabian Nunez!) Most surprising though was that 42% of the people voted yes on the transportation proposition that even the initial supporters of the legislation were now urging people to vote against. There was not a single endorser of this proposition, and still 42% of the people said, "Uh, sure!" which goes to show that at least 42% of the voters did not even do a lick of research before casting their ballot. It makes my head hurt.

I suppose it's not all too surprising, however, given my experience with my students. I can't even force them to be informed on the issues. Their homework that night was to discuss a proposition with a registered voter and summarize the conversation in a paragraph. Some of the students seemed to have some informative discussions and it made me feel good that at least their parents had some idea what they were doing. If the students are to be believed, though, other parents gave responses like "Don't worry about that stuff until you're older," "It's only important to vote for president," and "I'm voting yes, but I don't have time to explain why." Come on, parents. If we don't get them thinking and involved now, they'll likely never choose to do so.

I don't think I'm going to preach the ideals of democracy to my students anymore. Not just because I'm disenchanted, but because I honestly don't want these people making decisions that will influence my life. There's enough numbskulls voting as it is, like hell I'm going to encourage even more such people outnumber my vote when they base their decision on a commercial or eeny-meeny-miny-mo. Sure, this mentality goes against every principle I entered the profession with, but I refuse to concede any additional power to a group of people who will abuse the privilege like every other privilege they've ever been granted. As soon as my students demonstrate they are capable of making a decision based upon reasoning, I'll share with them the secret of democracy.