How can a state legislature encourage young people to participate in policy makeing using technology?

Question

Do websites work? What would need to be on the website to keep young people coming back? What other tools might we use?

Answer 1

Getting a desk-top to solve the misery of living human kind?

Will it work?

What do you think?

Where is the human intelligent out there?

Answer 2

education..take the s*x education out of the schools and teach technogoly and science..they need more vocation training ect.

Answer 3

BE FUNNY!  Jon Stewart is popular with young people because he is irreverent.  Look at the Chris Dodd YouTube video about his white hair - his campaign resisted the urge to moralize and made people laugh.

If you want to be serious, set serious images to popular music, interspersed with white text on black background.

You can post them on your website but be sure to post them on YouTube.  I like polls asking me what I think about issues - makes me feel the politicians are interested in my opinion.  

Be angry - don't tell "the youth" that "they" need to be involved, be angry that "we" have been told that "our" votes and involvement won't change anything.  Show video of student and youth activism from the first effective protests captured on film, interspersed with white text on black background about what their complaints were and how they managed to change history.

Hold a video contest, offering to broadcast the best of the videos on local television networks.

Work with local news broadcasts and radio stations that are popular with youth in your community.  Highlight the work of youth in your community.  Include info on how others can get involved.

Above all, at the end of all your broadcasts on the internet, radio or television, include a link to your website.  Don't waste your time with print media.

Answer 4

to require children at every educational level to study government - attend governmental sessions and study the constitution at every level of education.

write and submit bills on a class participation level - contact their representatives on issues concerning, environment, rights, regulations, food safety, nutrition and how their families are impacted by any part of government or lack of government - safety, insurance, parental leave, vacation, education.

they need to learn what other countries are doing via pen pals - study other forms of government - do comparisons - study education adequacy of other countries - how they rank in the world.

open discussion of current events on a daily basis.

america is slipping badly - the dumbing down of education is working - americans are treated as a smorgasbord for corporations to pick our bones.

they have outsourced and relocated outside the country and yet corporations control government on every level.

Answer 5

hi GovIT Guy,

Well the crux of the matter is keeping a finger on the pulse on the constituency right?

Well, the members of the legislature could

a) watch the Daily Show

b) visit popular sites (like this one) and news blogs (something you could research for them)

c) focus on developing personal relationships with people in their immediate environment-- across class, race and age lines. (this is the hard one)

The keywords are natural and spontaneous.

Good luck!

Answer 6

Why should anyone be chased around to try to do what's in their own best interest? People who aren't savy enough to take a hand in determining public policy deserve exactly what they end up with.