2008: Youth apathy or empowerment?

Hey all!

So, welcome back to your second semester of your freshman year. I have to say, you did a phenomenal job in the MOCK PRIMARIES and I was quite impressed with your position papers! Nice work!

We are going to have a Socratic seminar centered around the idea of youth civic engagement in the US. In preparation for the seminar, we will survey a variety of sources. The seminar's essential question is: Is 2008 the beginning of a new era with regards to youth civic engagement in America?

First we are going to take a survey evaluating your civic engagement. Click here to access the site. You will get ten free dollars at itunes as well.

1. WEDNESDAY. FEB 13: Watch this video and be prepared to discuss the interviewee's thoughts on youth apathy. Click here for the link.


2. THURSDAY, FEB 14: Survey statistics of youth voter turnout. Be prepared to discuss and share your ideas regarding these questions: What are the trends you observe? What inferences can you make with regards to 2008's youth voter turnout? Do these statistics support or negate the idea of lowering the voting age?

a. Civic Youth.org's interactive Map
b. Youthvote.org's Overview on Youth Voter Turnout

3. FRIDAY FEB 15: Mock Seminar and Vocab Quiz- Friday. After reading this article regarding the surge in youth civic engagement, prepare yourself as you would for a Socratic Seminar. Annotate your texts, come prepared with questions, comments, and discussion topics. Be sure to identify quotations of interest, and prepare to stay close to the text in seminar. Click here for the article.


4. FOR TUESDAY, FEB 19: Over the weekend, read this NY Times article entitled: "You're 16, You're Beautiful and You're a Voter". Annotate and prepare questions for seminar. After seminar, post a response to seminar citing sources, conversations, and seminar comments and be sure to evaluate your participation in seminar.