Community values youth

Directions:

1. Read description together

2. Go through Ted’s Big Day activity

3. Use discussions questions at end

Description:

You are a citizen. You may not go around thinking of yourself as a “citizen”, but you are one! The word Citizen just means, a member of a community who has rights and responsibilities. A community is a group of people who share an environment.

Every day, you are are a part of several different layers of community; That means you have different levels of “Citizenship”! At each level, you have rights and responsibilities.

There are different levels of community and therefore, different levels of Citizenship. Let’s go through some of them:

•The people you live with at your home make up the smallest “community” you belong to

•Your school or your workplace is your community

•Your city or county you live in

•Your state

•Your country

Ask your mentee: Can you think of any other levels of citizenship that you have?

Sources of Rights and Responsibilities

Citizens have rights and responsibilities, but where do those rights and responsibilities come from? That depends on the level of citizenship.

In the United States, at the national level, we get our rights and responsibilities in our Constitution. The Constitution was written when our nation was born, and it sets the rules for how our nation will run. Laws passed by the U.S congress can also create rights for the country on the national level.

Each state also has its own Constitution and its own sets of laws. At the State Level, like a Virginia, state constitutions and state laws contain the rights and responsibilities of the “state citizenship level”.

Cities often have a city charter (like a constitution, but for the city level) which tells how the city will run. Cities also pass laws, which are usually called ordinances.

⭐ Most schools have a school handbook that lists the students’ rights and responsibilities.

At home the adults or parents in charge decide what your rights and responsibilities will be.

Ask your mentee: Can you think of any other sources of rights and responsibilities? How would you define “Rights”? How would you define “Responsibilities”?

•Rights: A privilege or claim to something

-Ex: Some of the Rights that belong to U.S citizens include Freedom of speech, voting in a federal election, and running for federal or political office.

-Ex: State constitutions repeat many of the guarantees , but may add some rights such as right to a free education or equal rights for men and women.

-Ex: A city charter gives you the right to services your city provides, such as sidewalks or parks.

•Responsibilities: Duties to other people, the government, or society.

-Ex: All U.S residents and citizens have a responsibility to follow the law

-Ex: At school you are responsible for following the rules

-Ex: At the local, state, and federal level you have a responsibility to pay taxes

Answers for mentor:

Discussion Questions:

1. What rights do you use?

2. What rights don’t you use?

3. What rights should you use?

4. What do you think your classmates, family members, friends, teachers, would think if you used your rights more?

5. What can you do to use your rights more?

Activity: The Power to Change the World

Directions:

1.) Open the link below on a phone or laptop to read Article on Parkland students

2.) Have mentee use handout below to take notes while reading

3.) Go through discussion questions together

Link for New York Times article: http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/03/on-the-ground-with-parkland-teens-as-theyplot-a-revolution.html?gtm=bottom&gtm=top

Handout:

Discussion Questions:

1. How much of a difference can young people make in the problems our society faces?

2. What can we learn from this youth led movement?

3. Do you believe that your voice has an impact? What about your classmates?

Activity: Jim Crow- Why YOUR action is important to your community

Directions:

1.) Read the description on “Jim Crow”

2.) Go through and complete handout sheet together on next pages

3.) Use Discussion Questions to begin conversation on believing in yourself

Description:

Description continued:

Handout for Jim Crow activity:

Discussion Questions:

1.) Why do you think Jim Crow Laws don’t exist anymore today?

2.) Do you think that these laws would still exist today if no one stood up against them?

3.) Why does it take courage to stand up for what’s right? To believe in yourself?

Activity: What makes more impact - The President, or “Midterm Elections”?

Directions:

1.) Read through Description

2.) Go through discussion questions with mentee

Description:

Before reading, ask your mentee:

-Do you know what the presidential election is? Do you know what the midterm elections are?

-Which one makes more of an impact on your community on a more frequent basis?

Presidential elections tend to receive a lot more news coverage and attention than midterm elections, and especially local elections. NO MATTER THE ELECTION, you have an opportunity to make your community better through who you vote for. We’re going to talk about the importance of Midterm Elections.

Midterm elections are non-presidential elections. They happen exactly two years after a presidential election. For that reason, don’t put all of your energy, efforts, and conversation into the presidential election; even though seeing someone become president can be very exciting, or very scary. We have to remember that there is more to how your community works when it comes to elections than just the presidential election.

Hopefully you have heard of Congress and the Senate. They are two parts of what makes up the Legislative Branch of our larger national government. They help keep the president in check, along with the third branch “judicial branch”.

There are two parts of congress that have people who work and live either directly in your community, or in your state. Those two parts of congress are the House of Representatives, and the Senate. Each having people in them who directly effect and make decisions every day about YOUR community....very different from the President. The president may not even know what state that you live in and has probably never been to your community!

Midterm elections affect national, state, and local government in huge ways.

(See chart from iCivics.com on next page)

Discussion Questions:

1.) The next activity talks about voting; why do you think that paying attention to what happens in the national, state, and local “midterm elections” are important now, even before you are old enough to vote?

2.) How do midterm elections effect your community differently than the whoever becomes president?

3.) What can you do to have an affect on your community in regards to the midterms elections?

Activity: The Fourth Branch - You!

Directions:

1.) Read through discussion

2.) Review the charts below

3.) Compete activity below

Description:

Participating in YOUR democracy is a huge way we can make an impact. The habit of being involved starts now. When you turn 18 is too late in the game to start learning and paying attention, trust me.

If you understand how the government works, and if you have the knowledge about where your opinions matter most, you can be an active member of the “Fourth Branch”of government: the citizens!

Charts:

Activity