Our future voters don’t know how to vote. As election seasons have recently passed, a significant number of John Dewey high school seniors– many who were eligible to vote for the first time– found themselves unsure how to participate. With confusing registration processes, limited civic education, and a lack of guidance on voting processes, students are entering adulthood unprepared to exercise their democratic rights.
JDHS students were asked questions on their knowledge of our presidential elections and voting. While all of them can agree that voting is incredibly important, only one of them knew how to vote. Once asked how he had learned to vote he said “my dad wants me to vote, so he taught me how to”. This immediately brings up a whole new perspective. Seeing as we go to a school in New York and students come from various backgrounds, students are often first generation Americans and their parents don’t know how to vote. Therefore they cannot teach their kids, so this is one large group of seniors that doesn’t know how to vote.
Gerardo Ruiz, a senior from Mr.Lerner’s Participation in Government class, said he believes voting is important “because it determines our president which affects how our country is run” and when asked if he knew when the 2024 presidential election was being held he said “I know it’s in November, right?”. Although displaying a lack of knowledge about voting processes can seem trivial for high school students, it reflects a community in need of important civic information.
John Dewey senior Danil Netrunenko commented that voting is important “since the government is behind the people” when asked what he meant he explained that “the government is supposed to be run by our people for our people” to which I’m sure most would agree with. Unfortunately, if people don’t vote due to the fact that they don’t know how to- then our voices won’t be heard.
Every student knows who our presidential candidates are, but they aren’t very certain about what these candidates stand for. This adds another layer of confusion to the voting procedure.
Teachers from JDHS mentioned that seniors should be provided with the information needed to vote while in school. Mrs. Arrion, a substitute, even mentioned that other schools she’s worked at help students through the registration process. An assembly can be held, emails should be sent with instructions to assist high school seniors through the voting process, and politics in general should be more spoken about in a non-controversial way.
Teachers stress that without adequate preparation, these new voters may not participate at all, raising concerns about youth engagement in democracy. If students are not taught the logistics of voting in school, who will prepare them for one of their fundamental rights?
No matter which political party you are in, everyone can agree that they want their voices heard and the only way to do that is to vote.
