Today we share our top five entries in this year’s Student Contest; There Ought to Be a Law. We asked students to submit a 1-2 minute audio or video clip telling us what there ought to be a law about, why this is a problem in their community, and how that law would fix that problem. We then asked NH State Senator David Watters to weigh in on their proposed legislation.
Transcript
Nick Capodice: [00:00:06.29] You're listening to Civics 101. I'm Nick Capodice.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:00:08.54] I'm Hannah McCarthy.
Nick Capodice: [00:00:09.59] And Ring the bells and strike up the band. We are excited to announce the finalists for this year's student contest. There oughta be a law.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:00:17.96] Before we share the winning submissions, can you tell me how you settled on this topic? Having students submit proposed legislation?
Nick Capodice: [00:00:25.85] I got to admit, this idea came from a supporter of the show. Her name is DK Holland. She gave a TEDx talk entitled Kids Should Help Run Their Schools. She's a friend of the show. She heads the Inquiring Minds Institute in New York City. She is a relentless advocate for getting students civically engaged as early as humanly possible. DK wrote me that some of her students were confused about outdated laws and specifically racist and sexist laws that are still on the books in some states. And I thought, How about we have kids? Look into those and report back to us?
Hannah McCarthy: [00:00:59.91] So this contest was initially there ought not to be a law.
Nick Capodice: [00:01:03.96] Exactly. But it turned out to be a lot harder than I imagined to research outmoded local legislation. So we opted to have students tell us what new laws should be created instead. And my goodness, we got a lot of laws.
Student Montage: [00:01:22.05] If someone making minimum wage can't even make their rent. What about paying for food, medication, clothing?
Student Montage: [00:01:27.54] There is a gun shop that is only three miles away from one of our elementary schools.
Student Montage: [00:01:32.73] There ought to be a law about planting trees in every household.
Student Montage: [00:01:37.92] There ought to be a law about implementing civics education within all public schools.
Student Montage: [00:01:41.97] Solar panels can prevent $167 billion in health and environmental damages.
Student Montage: [00:01:46.95] Every person in the United States has to have a roof over their head.
Student Montage: [00:01:50.16] My law will fix this problem by implementing updated federal laws regarding privacy and ensuring that they are somewhat future proofed.
Student Montage: [00:01:55.83] The farmers should be nicer to cats.
Nick Capodice: [00:02:01.07] Today, what we're going to do is play our top five submissions and to see how they would hold up in the exhausting process of a bill becoming a law. I got a little outside help.
David Watters: [00:02:10.58] Any opportunity to deal with students. And they're so they're so smart and they're they're so right and they're so hopeful. And once once us old boomers get pushed out of the way, they're going to do a good job running the world.
Nick Capodice: [00:02:23.45] This is a man who has sponsored many pieces of legislation, New Hampshire State Senator David Watters. He's going to weigh in on our top choices and how he might approach these bills.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:02:34.49] All right. Let's get to it. What is our first law?
Nick Capodice: [00:02:37.40] Number one, Emily Chang.
Emily Chang: [00:02:41.27] Hello. My name is Emily. And I am from Sunnyvale, California. I believe that there ought to be a law that implements a mandatory life skills class lasting at least a year in all high schools across the country. Not being taught life skills in high school is a problem because students need to be prepared to properly take care of themselves in the real world outside an academic standpoint. This is especially important for high school students who are on the verge of adulthood and are taking on larger responsibilities. So here are a few examples of topics that could be covered during this class. First, a basic personal finance and budgeting topic so students will learn how to manage their money after graduation. Whether you're going to college, entering the workforce or anything, it is important to understand how to manage money in order to pay for food, shelter, tuition and other necessities. Additionally, a mental health topic would be wonderful to teach people about managing their day to day emotional levels and keep stress at bay. Of course, there are so many other potential topics, such as exploring occupations, resume building, cooking and even how to change a flat tire. Speaking from experience, this is very helpful when you're stranded on the road halfway home from a road trip and the only building near you in a five mile radius is a dilapidated Taco Bell. So having a basic life skills class will not only prepare students for their immediate future, but will also create healthy, long lasting habits for people to thrive.
David Watters: [00:04:08.94] What an interesting idea. And schools tend to go at this in different ways. Now, one thing that can be done, for example, is to say that all students might take career and technical education classes even if they're not concentrating in that area. So they could do some culinary arts, they could do some auto repair, they could do some technology, they could do some health care. So there are ways to do it. There's one thing to look at a YouTube video on changing a tire. It's another to be on the side of the road at 11 at night when it's raining and you can't find the jack parts.
Nick Capodice: [00:04:48.42] Proposed law number two. Annette Diaz.
Annette Diaz: [00:04:52.29] Hello. My name is Annette Diaz and I'm from Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey. There ought to be a law that ensures equitable access to education to low income minority students, because people like me have had to fight their way through doors that for other people, were already open. And I've had to teach ourselves how to fill out documents without the help of English speaking parents. I've had to put in double the work to prove to our schools that we are capable of doing more than what is stereotypically expected of us. We've never been on the same playing field as our fellow classmates. During my sophomore year, I overheard a student telling my guidance counselor about how he was the first person in his family planning to go to college. He didn't ask her for help in the application process. My counselor told him that she was not going to help him because that was something that he could figure out and that he was probably just being lazy. People often talk about how low income minority students usually perform below the level of the average student, but not enough people are talking about why this is and not enough people are doing something about it. Students like me don't just need simple solutions, like more funding. We need more counselors and administrators that not only help us, but that can actually understand us. We need more diverse curriculums and we need more access to resources that can help us walk an already rocky path. By doing this, we can hopefully close the education gap and inspire more students like me to go beyond the lines society has drawn for us.
David Watters: [00:06:19.21] Annette Diaz I mean, she's so right on not only about the experience that students go through and the resulting lack of opportunity and educational equity, but I think she also drives down to some of the actual practical things that you can do. When I see this, there are kind of two issues that arise. Is that what what can be done at the federal level? Because education is a responsibility of the states. And so I think at the federal level, it is quite possible to put funding which can then be provided to states for programs that they may set up. But it's very hard at the federal level to truly mandate down to the granular level what can be can be done. But I think certainly there could be funding here.
Nick Capodice: [00:07:05.74] Here we go. Law number three. Katherine Gage and Abby Stark.
Abby Stark: [00:07:09.58] Hi, I'm Abby Stark from Hooksett, New Hampshire.
Katherine Gage: [00:07:12.16] And I'm Katherine Gage from Windham, New Hampshire.
Abby Stark: [00:07:14.53] And there ought to be a law about climate change that comes in Fast and Furious, addresses it like nobody's business, while clean and sleek enough that it does not have too many side effects. This is a problem because, to quote Bill Nye, the planet is on bleeping fire.
Katherine Gage: [00:07:28.42] Well, yeah, all the weather is getting really messed up. So this march, Texas was buried in snow while at 75 degrees here in New Hampshire, which really wasn't what I signed up for living here.
Abby Stark: [00:07:36.91] Yeah, and can't we just pick up Texas in New Hampshire and flip their locations and everything will be all set right?
Katherine Gage: [00:07:42.61] I think a carbon fee and dividend is probably a better idea.
Abby Stark: [00:07:46.48] Yeah. All right. I forgot about that. Carbon fee and dividend is a great way to change to a clean energy market while also helping the people at the same time.
Katherine Gage: [00:07:54.76] Yeah, so here's how it works. So there's a fee on fossil fuels which increases every year making fossil fuels not profitable and transitioning us to clean energy. Second, all the money collected from the fee gets distributed to all American households equally to account for increased costs people are paying. And third, there's border adjustments on trade with other countries that don't have a similar carbon price. So this will encourage all other countries to price their carbon too, if they want to trade with us.
Abby Stark: [00:08:20.77] Yeah, and this would be great. It would reduce US greenhouse gas emissions by 40% in 12 years and 90% in 30 years, while encouraging similar policies in other countries through our trade. And second, help the poor with 96% coming out ahead financially and saving 295,000 lives in ten years.
Katherine Gage: [00:08:39.46] All right, let's get this carbon fee and dividend cooking.
Abby Stark: [00:08:42.64] Is that a climate change joke?
David Watters: [00:08:46.20] So. Carbon tax. Yeah. Yeah. Catherine Abby. I love the way they put it together. And I think that on this one, what was effective about their presentation is how do you make this seem reasonable, doable, and responsible when it is one that has become such a political flashpoint not only in the States but also nationally? We run into a variety of problems with it. One big one is that people focus only on the short term cost, that you're going to make something more expensive. They don't want to hear about the dividend. Other folks will say free market. Now, you know, the free market hasn't done a real great job on the climate crisis, has it? Right. As the free market that when a lot of government subsidies that created the climate crisis. So but that is another argument for folks who are the persuasion that government should not be intervening in these kinds of things. All that said, I think it's going to happen. You know, I mean, the carbon tax at the national level was a Republican idea in its origins.
Nick Capodice: [00:10:01.68] Law four Nestor Ilievski.
Nestor Ilievski: [00:10:04.92] Hello, my name is Nestor Ilievski. I'm 16 years old and I believe there ought to be a law about the problem of prison overcrowding. Prison overcrowding is a problem because it is one of the key contributing factors to poor prison conditions across the world, let alone America, as it causes problems such as lack of privacy, which can cause mental health issues and increase rates of violence. One such example of how prison overcrowding is a problem is in California. As California faced a serious issue with the prison population around 2010 to the point where it was a violation of the prisoners, Eighth Amendment right to protection against cruel and unusual punishments to have so many people confined in such a small space. As a result, California decided that their solution would be to release a significant portion of their prison population early, which did not solve the problem. After the prisoners release in 2011, crime rates spiked. I believe that there has to be a better solution to the problem, as there are many alternative measures, such as the decriminalization of lesser offenses like possession of marijuana and alternative punishments such as probation. But I don't think that they have a very good impact on the prison population. I believe that in order to fix this problem, a state should make a set amount of prisons that can account for their incarcerated population in order to make sure that overcrowding isn't an issue and there is space for every single prisoner.
David Watters: [00:11:50.81] What do you know, Nester Ilievski? I thought his articulation of this and of course, pointed to California. You know, in an interesting way, maybe just saying the overcrowding, if you if you, as he says, you know, define overcrowding and say, okay, you got to do something about it. The system is going to have to adjust. You're going to see parole reform. You're going to see drug sentencing reform. You're going to see more mental health. You're going to see diversion, you know, more mental health diversion courts. We've got veterans diversion courts, you know, drug diversion courts. This can be done. But there's got to be there's got to be a way to break this.
Nick Capodice: [00:15:50.51] And finally, our last nominee, Tzvia Ahmad.
Tzvia Ahmad: [00:15:54.05] Hello. My name is Tzvia Ahmad and there ought to be a law about menstrual equity. This is a problem because women are often put at a disadvantage during their period. For instance, high school students are often have to prioritize their health or their education. During these unpleasant times, and for some high school students who come from low income households or women in general who have low income jobs, have to prioritize putting food on the table or having a roof over their head during their periods as menstrual products are quite expensive. As an average menstrual spends about $6,000 on these products every year during their lifetime. So obviously that money can be a lot for some people. But for most people, like these women with low income jobs, that money can make a huge difference for them. And with that, these well, these women with low income jobs and from low income households have to use unhygienic substitutions along with women incarcerated in state prisons. They have to use rags, adult diapers, toilet paper and such to survive. And with that leads them to high rates of cervical cancer, bacterial infections like toxic shock syndrome, and even possibly death, especially for these women incarcerated who are put in unpleasant situations in prison, in state prisons and have lack of resources and poor quality conditions there already. Therefore, their their needs to be a menstrual equity law instilled in an American government system to ensure that these women and these few groups and more have the resources and access to get these products, especially since this country have the population consists of women, We need to shut out all of those women, not just women, who in these situations were women from all different backgrounds. We need to make sure that they have the access, they have the accessibility and all the safety protection under a law in American government to survive and overall be able to be happy with their own bodies during a natural bodily function during that time.
David Watters: [00:17:56.43] Oh, this is just so great. And and again, she's so right. And I mean, what I liked about this idea is the way it's expanded it beyond the kind of focused focus that there's been on the schools and said, no, we got to think about this much more, much more broadly.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:18:15.21] Did Senator Watters tell you which was his favorite?
Nick Capodice: [00:18:17.85] He said he was reluctant to pick one specifically because he loved them all. So then I asked a few of DK's students to weigh in on their favorites among the finalists.
Ed Zúñiga Velasco: [00:18:27.06] My name is Clara Flanders and I go to Brooklyn Technical High School in Brooklyn, New York. I think it was either making period products free or much cheaper than they are now. And I think this one struck me as a woman myself. So I understand like how often you need to get those products and how that kind of price can definitely add up over a long period of time. And I think when I was listening to it and just thinking about the fact that many of the people who are making laws currently are men, I think is very easy for them to overlook and maybe not think as very important or something that needs a lot of attention because it's not something that directly affects them.
Ed Zúñiga Velasco: [00:19:08.34] I'm Ed Zúñiga Velasco. I go to Art and Design High School. Well, about the prison overcrowding one definitely because prison what prisons do right now, like the function they serve, is very close to slavery in that prison. They're doing unpaid labor. Conditions aren't great.
Rachel Patashnik: [00:19:27.99] I'm Rachel Patashnik and I'm a junior at the High School of Art and Design. I liked the making Basic human life skill classes in schools might be an individual state kind of law change because school systems are different in each state. But in general, I really do think that it would be beneficial to the future if people were a little more prepared.
Lynn Watford: [00:19:55.70] I'm Lynn Watford and I go and I attend the School of 25th Grader. Some of the stuff I didn't really understand, but the second one I kind of agreed with the one of the most it was the one about equality for what was the word, um, low income, like people that just came and they extra help and all that and they can't get that stuff. It's kind of, it's really unfair.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:20:24.14] Let's not keep anyone in suspense any longer. Time to reveal this year's winner.
Nick Capodice: [00:20:29.09] The whole Civics 101 team listened to all the submissions and it was nearly impossible to pick a winner. But we chose Annette Diaz from Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:20:40.46] Congratulations, Annette. A bag of civic swag is headed your way and we will put all of the top winners on our website, civics101podcast.org.
Nick Capodice: [00:20:49.39] And before we say goodbye, I asked Senator Waters what advice he'd give to all of you out there who submitted laws. And I beg you to listen to his words.
David Watters: [00:20:58.54] Demand change. Talk to your legislators. Call people like me and say I want you to introduce a bill on this. I don't know if students really understand the extraordinary impact they have when they show up and they can get things done. And you know what? If people don't get things that you that you want done, run for office, Maybe sometimes you don't change minds, you replace them. So I'm looking forward to seeing all these all these students in leadership in our in our in their home communities and in their states.
Nick Capodice: [00:21:38.59] That's a wrap on our student contest. Follow us on Spotify or Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts for our upcoming series on civil rights cases and the Supreme Court. Today's episode was produced by me, Nick Capodice with Johanna McCarthy. Thank you.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:21:52.51] Thank you. Our staff includes Jacqui Fulton and Erika Janik is our executive producer.
Nick Capodice: [00:21:57.04] And we've got a fun biweekly newsletter. Transcripts of our episodes and a whole host of other things at our website, civics101podcast.org.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:22:05.56] Civics 101 is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and is a production of NPR New Hampshire Public Radio.
