Honestly, I had forgotten about the election yesterday until I arrived at work and was reminded that my school is a polling site. As I try to model good citizenship for my students, I adjusted my evening plans to include a quick visit to my old polling place (I sent in my change of address request as soon as I moved and received a confirmation but have yet to receive a new voting card – I keep waiting to be denied a ballot, but it hasn’t happened yet. Anyway…) so that I could keep up my 100% voting record. As I hustled into the building, I found myself alone, except for the single poll worker. I was appalled.
Later, when I met up with friends, I asked if they had voted that day. Their responses were not akin “yes” or “no” so much as, “…what?” But, there was such ignorance surrounding this election that I could not say I was surprised.
If I, as a conscious citizen and informed resident, could forget about the election, of COURSE virtually everyone else did. But this gave me pause this morning as I reflected: how do I EVER know about elections?
Usually, it’s due to a candidate’s campaign materials. That’s good and all, but it’s pretty biased. Sometimes, some political or advocacy groups that I am a part of distribute literature about who to vote for where and when. I try to browse the county elections website from time to time. But these are all quite personal. How do we better inform the general public?
Local elections can have the most widespread and immediate impact on our students. If people are not voting but for the next president, if at all, how can we expect to give our kids the best and most deserved policies?
#ftk,
BT Bubble Sheet
BT Bubble Sheet (BTBS) is a Dallas ISD middle school teacher. Visit her blog here for more blogs in addition to what she writes for us!
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