Democracy must be learned by each generation” is the motto of the YMCA Youth and Government Program, which has been around since 1936. To Quote from the YMCA Texas YG website, “Our Mission: To help teenagers become responsible citizens and future leaders of our nation.”(https://ymcatexasyg.org/about/cause/ ). From the outside perspective of Youth and Government, we see just four small sections: Legislative, Judicial, State Affairs Forum, and Media. As we look deeper inside, we see more sections run by teenagers helping form a democracy that will change this world.
At first glance, the legislative section appears to be just delegates debating and writing bills to be passed. But, when speaking to delegate Zakel Warren, he states, “Legislative is way more than that when we are deciding what to write our bill on; it’s subjects that we as delegates are passionate and truly proud of. Having your bill passed is truly an accomplishment as Leg is very competitive, and we get the experience of how our government works!” Legislative allows delegates to express their creative abilities while furthering their writing, research, and debate skills.
Continuing, as we look into Judicial, this section can be kids playing make-believe roles to debate and win, but it’s way more! Speaking with delegate Jordyn Baxter, she explains, “Judicial is a place where I feel close to home. I’m surrounded by many people I consider to be my family/team. Considering I am in theater, Judicial has allowed me to further my theater skills, as when I play my roles, I portray a story that ultimately helps my team, and I win in the end!” Judicial allows delegates to learn how to co-exist with each other while learning the forums of court.
Next, take a look at the State Affairs Forum section. From afar, it seems like delegates are just debating and trying to win over a room, but they do much more! The YMCA website reads, “Delegates are given current events, and as a team or solo, they come up with proposals or solutions to fix those problems. Delegates gain a lot from this section,” learning to think out of the box about certain solutions; they gain a different speaking ability, learning to intelligently and proudly speak about something they created that can fix a problem they are passionate about.” Many delegates also learn to do in-depth research as they have to familiarize themselves with the issue at hand.
Lastly, the Media section from the outside appears to be delegates who just take pictures or record videos. In reality, media delegates gain the experience of being the messenger. Sourced from the YMCA website, “As a section, delegates experience being punctuational, writing and comprehension abilities, and creative sparks.”; taking a look deep inside, delegates learn and gain the experiences of every other section. Without the media, as we see in the government of the United States and the YMCA, it would be harder to gain the perspective of what happening
around us.
Written by: Ajaila Joseph, Duncanville High School