The Paramount Importance of Organizing in and through High Schools.
Forgive me for beginning with a bit of biography. I was appointed National High School Liaison for the Young Democrats of America back in 2003 and served through my graduation in 2005. This role enabled me to see Barack Obama’s 2004 convention speech ironically because that was the night when tickets were less wanted. I raise this because I remember what it was like to be a High School Democrat. In theory, I was one of the most prominent high school Democrats in the country. However, the reality was that, as much as I loved every minute, it was a challenge to get my High School peers to share my enthusiasm.
In retrospect, unless you absolutely loved the thrill of being a Democrat, it was hard to fit the time commitment in with other activities. Moreover, there was an awkwardness during my early years in the YD’s of always being the youngest person in the room. I mention my story because of how atypical it is. High Schoolers are under immense pressure to decide what their future will look like, whether that is getting into a four or two -year college, or finding meaningful work, or just establishing their lives.
Democrats must remember, however, that things people become accustomed to in High School tend to follow them throughout their lives. We can all point to exceptions when people embrace new pursuits later in life but they come to mind easily because they are exceptions. So where does politics fit in for the average high schooler? The answer is pretty much nowhere.
I have complete and total respect for the HSDA, but this country has 17 million high school students, and according to HSDA numbers, HSDA has 10,000 plus members. If we round up to 17,000, that would mean 0.1% of High School Students are in the HSDA. We need it to be 1% or 170,000. At this number there would be 1 HSDA member for every 100 students. At that ratio, members would be able to tackle core questions about their peers. Is this person likely to vote for us when eligible, what do they care about, who are their friends, how influential are they with which friends. In short, they could conduct the power mapping necessary to understand the school.
The question is not do such 170,000 students exist. Of course they do. The question is what does the Democratic Party have to offer them? The answer could be well pretty much everything. For starters, unlike those older than 18, those younger than 18 now struggle to find part-time work and even when they find it, such jobs are likely to be quite low paid. $100 a week to someone who has a full-time job, or even college loans they can lean on may not be a lot. But to a High School kid who has no other source of income, it could be a game changer. A second benefit might be help with career or educational planning. The future is daunting for many high schoolers, and assistance from our Party could be an animating factor. Plenty of Democrats can SAT tutor, provide valuable internships, help filling out applications, scholarships forms, financial aid forms etc, even provide jobs in the community they live in. Third, the Party should emulate church and other community youth groups and offer options for fun. At 38, I haven’t the slightest idea what is still cool in High School, but whatever it is, it probably costs at least a little money. We need to spend it. Get the kids together. Let them have some fun our dime, and the rewards we will get in terms of brand loyalty are off the charts. What is more, the social ties and community mindedness we will be building fit well with our overall ethos as the Party that believes in people caring for each other. Fourth, in a few cases, large prize such as college scholarships, or year-long paid internships, can be awarded to those who truly are committed and really dig into the work
As a point of emphasis before we move on, the work we want these high school students doing is with their high school peers. A major problem that often plagues this work is that young people are seen as good sources of free/cheap other labor. They get drawn into doing the rest of the campaign work, losing their own unique value and pulled away from high school organizing, I remember in Maine in 2018, the organizer trying to turn UMaine students into paid canvassers for the overall program, not on campus. Maine was a same day voter registration state to boot. Commandeering of high schoolers for other purposes could ruin the whole point of the investment in these young people.
As much as high school organizing sets the table for the future, it serves another key function. High school grounds people geographically. While campus programs might potentially turn some people into on-campus voters, the bottom line is that getting someone to vote in their actual hometown, when possible, is definitely preferable. Of course, we want to focus on the place each voter is most likely to cast a ballot, and I will post later on how we can improve campus organizing, The point is that, until someone turns 30 or reaches one of the other signifiers of adulthood (Marriage/Children or home ownership), their High School hometown is probably where their deepest roots run. To build alumni/ae support, universities designate a class rep whose job it is to be the resource that people go to when they want to brag on things they have done to their class members. We need the high school reps who were talking up the Democratic Party when they were in high school to be the same people talking it up until someone has established themselves as an adult.
The ratio we are aiming at is one representative for every 100 people to be reached out to. But since some people won’t be open to Democrats somewhere between 20% and 60% will be out of reach and thus each representative will only need to stay in contact with roughly 50 people. One thing we also have never done as a party is obtain each and every high school yearbook. A high school yearbook will contain a treasure trove of data about each person. If you have someone whose job it is to follow up on this information, that person might have some sense of who could be voting in that town. A game can be made of this. What high school class has the highest voting %, in your school, in your county, in your state.
To at least some people, their high school is what defines them and makes them whole, but what is more this approach will allow the party to establish deep roots in the community. Such strong ties are not universal, but they exist in a very large number of places, particularly some where Democrats are not doing well now. In our culture, social bonds are often based on high school connection, particularly with sporting events. The phrase once a something always a something rings true for a lot of people. Harnessing already existing communitarian energy is very important toward improving our Party’s profile.
Obviously, doing things this way is hard and expensive. I have focused on how we get the money in earlier posts. But the bottom line is, giving someone a fun time bowling in high school, is likely to mean more to someone than viewing one more TV ad for the 170th time.