Students cast their ‘votes’
A collective hush in any school classroom on a Friday afternoon is rare.
Yet year nine students at Albany Junior High School stood silent with anticipation as they waited for the results of their very own election to be announced over the loud speaker.
Almost 60 students participated in a mock election at the school on September 15.
Head of social studies Amanda Marsh said the students had really ‘‘taken charge’’ of the event by performing electoral roles, such as election officers and vote counters.
‘‘I think they actually understand now that their say is important and what they think matters.
‘‘It’s not long until they’ll be voting in real elections and becoming educated is important,’’ she said.
As in a real election, students were required to present their ID cards and choose from the current political parties and candidates.
Results were announced at the end of the school day once all the votes had been counted.
The election exercise was part of a larger term-long unit on New Zealand Government and politics.
Students learnt about Government, how it operates and how MMP works.
While they voted for real parties in the mock election, as part of the unit’s study, they were also required to form their own political parties, to generate policy and take on ministerial roles.
Although the unit was kept non-partisan, it was interesting to see how students developed their own thoughts on policy as it became important to them, Marsh said.
Year nine student Grace Hunter said she had found the unit ‘‘insightful’’.
‘‘I feel like I know much more about New Zealand and how it works. It just makes more sense now, and I’m ready to vote next [election].’’
Both the candidate and party vote were won by National - a result met by mixed reactions.
Year nine student Beth Wells said after talking to her classmates, she thought the outcome would have been ‘‘much closer’’.
Overall, Grace said beginning to think about politics at a young age meant students would be more likely to vote in the future.
‘‘The more voters the better the Government is suited to the country,’’ she said.