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Election 2000

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Children's Express is an international, non-profit news syndicate that produces stories by young journalists, 8-18, for adult media.

George W. Bush for President

Al Gore for President

Young Volunteers Skip the Voting Booth
by Molly Phillips, 15, Marquette, Mich.

In 1998, 74.2 percent of college freshmen volunteered during their senior year of high school. In the 1996 elections, 32.0 percent of 18 to 24-year olds turned out to vote.

Why is it that the number of young volunteers is so high, while the number of young voters is so low? Earlier this week, my team attended a community service event sponsored by ServiceVote 2000, to find the answer.

ServiceVote 2000, whose mission is to turn young volunteers into young voters, organized the event to package and label food that will then be sent out to 950 charities.

Participating were delegates, governors and Vice President Al Gore's daughters, Karenna Gore Schiff and Kristin Gore.

Service vs. Voting

According to a Harvard University study, 60 percent of the students surveyed prefer community volunteerism to political engagement as the better way to solve important issues facing the country.

Why is it, I wonder, that young people feel they can make a difference in their communities, but not in their government? Do they feel like their vote doesn’t count, while their time does? Is it because they see the results more clearly when volunteering?

While labeling and packing food products to give away to charities, we asked volunteers their opinions on this issue. Their responses were varied.

Seeing is Believing

Some felt that young people volunteer because they can see the results of their labor. When you tutor a child, for example, and they eventually learn how to read and do basic addition, you can see the difference you’ve made.

With voting, the results aren’t quite as clear.

Others said that young people aren’t voting because politicians don’t focus on issues that concern them. Politicians focus on senior citizens and social security. But what about issues like government funding for college tuition
and affirmative action?

When asked if volunteering or voting was more important, all of the interviewees said that they were equally important. This seems like a pretty obvious answer. I agree that it is important to be involved in your community, and also in your government. What scares me is that many young people don’t seem to realize this.

If you were a reporter, what question would you ask George W. Bush or Al Gore ?

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