Lovett School issued the following announcement on Apr. 4.
Now more than ever, politics are a point of conversation to avoid. Everybody’s got an opinion, and very few people know how to express that opinion without creating a social media firestorm. But every year, a group of a few hundred Georgia high schoolers get together to express their political beliefs in a more constructive way: Youth Assembly.
From March 20th to the 22nd, the Georgia Center for Civic Engagement hosted the 77th Georgia Youth Assembly conference, where students from across the state convened to simulate the real-life Georgia legislature at an Atlanta hotel. Serving as state senators, representatives, floor leaders, and more, students got the chance to take part in a model legislative process by writing, debating, and (sometimes) passing bills into Youth Assembly law.
Last year, when our usual Model United Nations conference was canceled, I decided to expand Lovett’s MUN team by leading a team to our first-ever Youth Assembly conference, which was modified to a one-day experience due to Covid-19. It gave us a taste of how the state legislature really works and inspired us to return back this year to the full-fledged experience.
This spring, Lovett’s seven-member delegation consisted of students in all four Upper School grade levels. Split into the two chambers of the state legislature, we debated bills, proposed amendments, and voted on issues ranging from setting term limits for Georgia senators and representatives to legalizing marijuana.
I wrote and presented Senate Bill 3, which aimed to introduce free summer childcare at public school facilities to allow parents to continue working without struggling to find and pay for summer camps. The bill made it all the way through the state senate only to be squashed by a tie in House Committee 2.
“It was more difficult than I thought it would be,” admits Lovett senior and state senator Arden Gibson. Seeing the legislative process play out can be inspiring at times, but it can also be frustrating when a vote goes the other way or the presiding officer cuts off a debate right at its climax. Arden says that going through the ups and downs of policymaking “gave me more respect for people involved in civics.”
Fortunately, congressional power also comes with some perks. In between debating on the house and senate floors, we ate some delicious meals at Mellow Mushroom, played Bananagrams, and even attended an impromptu party in the Senate Chamber on the second night of the conference. I had to drag some of the more reluctant delegates to that Senate party, but they thanked me later. There’s nothing like a group of geeky teenagers dancing to the YMCA song in a hotel conference room on a Monday night.
These informal interactions helped us not only to grow closer as a delegation but also to get to know other students who we wouldn’t otherwise meet.
Because we were some of the only delegates at the conference from the metro Atlanta area, we came with some preconceived notions about the political opinions of the other delegates. However, we were all surprised, and impressed, by the diversity of thought within the assembly.
“I learned to not expect people to follow stereotypes,” says Lovett freshman and state representative Chase Elsas, reflecting upon his interactions with the other delegates.
Interestingly (and unfortunately), even as a group of angsty teenagers, we also seemed to be able to confront and deal with our different opinions better than the “real” politicians do. We countered each other respectfully, we proposed compromises, and our disagreements didn’t extend to unpleasantry outside of the house and senate chambers.
Maybe this says something about our current political culture. Perhaps our main problem isn’t the policymaking process itself but rather the partisan systems that surround and influence it. Youth Assembly certainly helped us all to envision a government where policymakers work across the aisle so that ideas are more efficiently, and more successfully turned into action.
“Polarization is not the normal state of humankind,” reflects Lovett sophomore and state representative Samar Kibe, “and I think that Youth Assembly is a testament to that.”
Original source can be found here.
Alerts Sign-up