Advanced filters

Search Results

You searched for:  -

There are 91 results  for your search.  View and Refine Your Search Terms

  • How young poll workers may save Americans from Election Day chaos

    September 16, 2020 |

    USA Today |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States

    Organizations ran campaigns to recruit young people to work as poll workers, addressing shortages due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Hundreds of thousands of high school and college students, as well as recent graduates, signed up to fill the gaps. Social media provided an effective recruitment tool, and the diverse coalition called Power to the Polls, that includes MTV, Uber, Starbucks, and others, got 400,000 people to sign up. Some coalition partners offer paid time off to their employees for working at polls and states, such as Georgia, offer poll worker compensation, which was a draw for young people.

    Read More


    Go to Original Story

  • Schools rarely teach climate change outside of science class. Teachers are changing that.

    September 11, 2020 |

    Mashable |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States

    Climate Change lessons are lacking even in science classes. This article identifies a variety of methods that educators can take to incorporate climate change into the classroom. Examples include things like incorporating climate change into non-science classes, creating interdisciplinary courses, and keeping the issue non-partisan. "They just want to be told the truth. They want to acknowledge that they're angry," Metzger-Carter said. "So, I tell them the truth. I tell them that their voices are way more powerful than mine. Then, I step out of the way."

    Read More


    Go to Original Story

  • Why We Should Lower the Voting Age to 16

    July 20, 2020 |

    Next City |

    Text |

    Over 3000 Words

    Response Location: United States

    Research shows that voting at a young age leads to lifelong civic engagement and several cities and countries have lowered their voting ages. In the handful of democracies that allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote, they also show that they turnout in large numbers. Austria was the first EU country to allow 16-year-olds to vote and in 2014 their turnout was 64%, compared to 56% for voters 18-20. Takoma Park, Maryland allows 16-year-olds to vote, and in 2015 45% of them turned out compared to 21% overall. The national movement is slow, and not gaining a lot of traction, but changes can happen at the local level.

    Read More


    Go to Original Story

  • Texas's High School Voter Registration Law Fails to Live Up to Ideals

    July 02, 2020 |

    Next City |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Texas

    A Texas law requiring high school principals to register eligible student voters has failed because it is unequally carried out, not enforceable or tracked, and other obstacles to vote prevent students from casting ballots. While the law was an impressive attempt to increase the civic participation of young people, many high schools have not participated. A 2019 report shows that only 38% of schools with at least 20 seniors requested voter registration forms. A confounding obstacle is a 2013 voter ID law that requires voters to show one of seven forms of photo identification, but student IDs are not eligible

    Read More


    Go to Original Story

  • Advocates, teachers aim to help growing number of young Texas voters wield their power

    March 11, 2020 |

    Corpus Christi Caller Times |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Texas

    Organizations and educators in Texas work to increase voter engagement among young people. Schools must provide voter registrations, but many don't, so some teachers register students and teach the importance of civic participation. Several groups also work to get high school and college-age voters to the polls. MOVE Texas and Texas Rising registered thousands of young voters on National Voter Registration Day in 2019. Utilizing technology, going to where young people are, and teaching media literacy increased civic engagement among young people in 2018, although the turnout was still relatively low at 25%.

    Read More


    Go to Original Story

  • There's a nationwide shortage of poll workers. Cities are relying on teens for help

    January 23, 2020 |

    Milwaukee Journal Sentinel |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States

    Many cities are turning to 16- and 17-year-olds to address poll worker shortages. Election officials say the students are also more tech savvy, racially and ethnically diverse, and enthusiastic. 400 students in Minneapolis, which has the highest turnout in midterm elections, made up 16% of all poll workers and were at 131 of its 132 polling places. Milwaukee has had less success recruiting students. In 2016, the last year they reported this data, students made up just 1% of poll workers. Structural barriers caused by high poverty rates and much lower compensation than other cities likely limit success.

    Read More


    Go to Original Story

  • The Kids Are Alright, and They're Fixing Their Neighborhoods After Natural Disasters

    September 05, 2019 |

    NationSwell |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Rockaway, New York

    In starkly unequal Rockaway, Queens, New York, a group of 60 young people organize grassroots campaigns to equalize outcomes across race and class lines in the Rockaway Youth Task Force. Just a year after its founding Hurricane Sandy hit, and the RYTF really came into its own when it turned a vacant, half-acre lot into a thriving youth-run farm. The group also successfully lobbied the city to extend a bus line that gave over 10,000 more residents transportation access.

    Read More


    Go to Original Story

  • Young voting advocates take up the fight against suppression

    August 29, 2019 |

    The GroundTruth Project |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Greenville, South Carolina

    Young advocates for voting rights are fighting back against laws that make it difficult for young people and other marginalized groups to register to vote. Through public campaigns, lawsuits, and voter registration drives, these youth advocates are taking action as their peers come of age to vote.

    Read More


    Go to Original Story

  • Teens In Transition Program shows promise at reducing crime

    June 28, 2019 |

    KSHB-TV |

    Broadcast TV News |

    Under 3 Minutes

    Response Location: United States, Kansas City, Missouri

    Collaborative efforts targeting adult-peer mentoring in Kansas City, Missouri have resulted in less crime and increased trust among participants. Focusing on high-risk teens and young adults, the program known as Teens in Transition connects law enforcement with youth members to work together on an art project over a 9-week span.

    Read More


    Go to Original Story

  • 'Hate is always local': the Swedish city that said no to neo-Nazis

    May 01, 2019 |

    The Guardian |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: Sweden, Kungälv

    The city of Kungälv, Sweden, with only 20,000 residents, developed a successful initiative to prevent the spread of neo-Nazis after the murder of a fourteen year-old anti-racist activist in 1995. Armed with the theory that "hate is always local," a local teacher created the Tolerance Project, held workshops with local teenagers and took them on trips to Holocaust sites. Now the "Kungälv model" is being practiced and adapted to local contexts around Sweden.

    Read More


    Go to Original Story

Solutions In Focus

Discover curated content about themes that matter to you, exclusively from the Solutions Story Tracker. Explore collections, resources and more.


Go to All Solutions in Focus