How Young People Are Driving Civic Engagement and Community Care
What does democracy look like through young people’s eyes? In The Next 250: Youth Voices on Democracy, a three-part KQED radio special, students share stories about the issues that matter to them and the ways they are taking action. Their work was published to the KQED Youth Media Challenge, which helps young people create media for audiences beyond the classroom.
The first segment introduces the series through young people’s perspectives on democracy and what it means to have a voice in their communities. Middle and high school students connect America’s founding ideals to issues in their own communities, from food insecurity and mountaintop removal to voting rights and Daylight Saving Time. Created through KQED’s Podcasting Democracy project, their audio commentaries offer personal, research-based perspectives on the country’s future. [Listen here]
First-Time Voters, Youth-Led Drives
In the second segment of The Next 250: Youth Voices on Democracy, three young organizers share audio stories they created for the KQED Youth Media Challenge. Nidhi Maddi of Frisco, Texas, describes how a lack of accessible civic education in her immigrant family inspired her to register voters. Vyan Kumar of Pleasanton, California, explores the many ways people can contribute to their communities before they are old enough to vote. Anna Fedoruk of Colorado Springs, Colorado, recounts the disappointment of her first voter registration drive and the small moments that gave her reason to keep going. [Click the listen button at the top of this article to hear the segment.]
In conversation with KQED’s Almetria Vaba, New Voters founder Jahnavi Rao shares how these stories show young people developing a sense of their power by putting it to work.
Small Acts, Lasting Change
What does participating in democracy look like beyond the ballot box? The third segment turns to young people who noticed a need in their communities and decided to help. Three students share stories they created through the New Voters summer fellowship and published through the KQED Youth Media Challenge. Mildred Solomon of Newark, New Jersey, describes how the cost of professional clothing nearly kept her from feeling that she belonged at a Model United Nations conference, inspiring her to create a closet where other students can find what they need. Anvi Chaturvedi of Frederick, Maryland, reflects on what she learned at a special education resource fair and how she now works to make support and community events more accessible. Aanya Contractor of Ellicott City, Maryland, shares how a documentary about women undergoing cancer treatment prompted one woman to pay for another’s house cleaning. [Listen here]
Together, the stories in the third segment show how caring for one person can lead to wider change.
Across all three The Next 250: Youth Voices on Democracy segments, students show that participation can begin with a story, a conversation, or a small act.
More Information
New Voters helps high school students register their peers to vote and take action on issues that matter in their communities.
The KQED Youth Media Challenge gives middle and high school students a way to share stories about the issues they care about and bring their voices into conversations beyond the classroom.