By Giselle Villaseñor and Jennifer Cisneros
November 4, 2024 for The Signature
Hancock students in their civics classes are learning about the presidential election. From watching debates to creating comic strips and voter guides, they’re navigating how to do their research and finding creative ways to do it.
An article published on September 29, 2020, by The Week, titled, “How to talk to teens about voting,” states “Engagement found that although the majority of young people (ages 18-24) are paying attention to the 2020 election, a third of them didn't even know whether they could register to vote online in their state.”
The upcoming election on November 5, 2024 allows youth to use their voice on political issues important to them.
The Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) article titled “Changes to Election Laws May Affect Youth Voting in 2024” released on August 14, 2024, discusses the adjustments on voting registration. According to data found by Tufts University Tisch College - CIRCLE, Illinois is one of 20 states to allow all 16-year-olds to pre-register so they can automatically be added to the voter rolls once they reach voting age. According to CIRCLE, “Pre-registration has proven to increase youth voter turnout by 9% compared to states that don’t have the same election laws.”
Damian Lemus, a senior at Hancock and an active member of the Hancock Student Council, said that since he “knew that this was going to be the first election [he] was going to be able to vote in, over the summer [he] registered online to vote and it was really simple; it was quick and easy and in about two weeks, [he] got [his] voter registration card.” Hence why he tuned into the DNC, RNC, both of the presidential debate and the vice presidential debate to become more informed on their positions. Lemus also mentioned that he believes it’s important for young voters such as himself to go out and vote.
Lemus also wishes that Election Day could be a federal holiday since he believes it would improve voter turnout. In his future, Lemus “would like to be a part of government one way or another whether that be to hold a seat in office of some sort.” Lemus “cares about politics and laws that affect our lives down to the neighborhood of Chicago to the entire city, state, and nation.”
Similarly, Valeria Munoz, a senior at Hancock who is one of three student representatives on the LSC is a new voter this year. In a candidate, she hopes they would show their human side and not just what their policies are since it gives us a sense of who they are outside of the job since new voters aren’t just drawn to one candidate. This is why when asked what she and others should do to become more informed, she said, “Researching each candidate, not just on their stance but also what exactly is happening because if you don’t, that means you're not interested in what's happening around the world.”
Munoz said the policies she would like for a candidate to focus on are immigration, helping immigrants get better jobs, and an easier pathway to citizenship because it’s a major issue happening in our country.
Munoz's main concern with the election is how the people who are in office affect her, her family, and her friends. That's when it “made her start caring more about politics.” This is why her biggest influences have been family, friends, and social media since “a lot of things that are not covered in news are on social media.”
Last week, a group of Hancock students went to vote for the first time.
Recently, Chalkbeat asked six first-time voters what issues they’ll be thinking about as they fill out their ballots. These new voters talked about the following issues:
- Gun violence
- The economy
- Book bans
- The Israel-Hamas war
- Abortion access
- U.S. foreign policy
The Association of Mature American Citizens’ article, published on September 18, 2024, titled “Republicans and America’s Young Voters” stated that the 2024 election would help young voters “see their future in the balance.” Different proposed policies by the candidates will affect the future that young voters want to have, especially on the issues dealing with “good jobs, stability, care for others, affordable housing, and home ownership” that many are currently struggling with.
Research findings from an article by the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners titled March 19, 2024, Primary Election in Chicago, show ballots demonstrating the youth age range, 17-24, having both the lowest percentage of Total Ballots cast at 3.22% and lowest percentage of registered voters at 12.48%.
Hancock’s Civics teacher, Froylan Jimenez, discussed the curriculum and how it coincides with the upcoming election with the Signature. In Jimenez’s civic classes, he says he often receives a lot of student engagement because topics are relevant to students and affect them directly. The past few years have been filled with plenty of topics that apply to our students directly.
What Jimenez’s students learn in his class is not only that voting is important, but so is critical thinking. Being a critical thinker means being informed about beliefs, policies, and topics that a candidate is pushing for, Jimenez told the Signature in an interview.
In a survey done in one of Hancock’s civic classes, students voted on how informed they feel because of their civics classes. On a scale from 1- 4, 57.9% voted they agree with the statement “Although I can't vote in the upcoming election, I still feel informed” and 42.9% voted they strongly agree.
In “How to talk to teens about voting,” The Week expressed that "children have to have their sense of what they care about for a political community.” They also state that this is especially important when teens are discussing their political views with their parents, their parents should “consider why they feel the way they feel.”
Julissa Carbajal contributed to this piece.