Youth Organizations and Programs
Does all this political stuff intimidate you? Do you just want to find some teenagers to talk politics with? Or, are you looking for a little bit of a good time with your politics? If you answered yes to any of these, a good place to start your political endeavors is in a organization specifically devoted to youth programs. For obvious Constitution reasons you cannot start out as a 16 year old Senator, but sometimes it seems people expect that of you. So, if you want to get involved in politics, the key is to find others who want the same. And the best way to do this is through a Youth Organization. Within these programs, not only do you gain valuable experience for whatever the future holds, but you still can get things accomplished. For as many varied interests as there are, there are ten youth organizations across the nation. If your interest is in the state and federal government, one upstanding organization is Youth and Government. It is a program run by the YMCA that is a simulation of state government. It is all-inclusive encompassing every aspect of state government, providing something for everyone. Moreover, model legislation that is passed by the Youth &Government State Legislatures is normally forwarded to the real legislatures of the respective state for consideration. There are a variety of elected officers, including Governer as well as a National Conference where members from all the different statewide programs meet together to discuss affairs of national or international significance. This program is known as CONA (Conference on National Affairs). For more information, or if you live in California, or to get links to the CONA website as well as the websites of the Youth & Government programs of other states please visit the California YMCA Youth & Government at http://www.calymca.org. Or, if you would like, email California Youth & Government member and 1998 CONA delegate: Daniel Oswald. Another organization you may be interested in is the First (in 1996) National Youth Conventions. This organization composes a national "Youth Platform" every four years just as the major political parties do. To compose this platform, they recruit youth from the areas where the national political conventions are to be held. To contact them, just head to their website at http://www.youthlink.org. The Republican National Committee also sponsors a youth organization. In fact, it has a special branch engineered for college student republicans, found at http://www.crnc.org . If you interest in politics is more on an international scale, a program that I personally have found extremely fulfilling is Model united nations. These groups allow student to represent different nations of the world on committees devoted to specific international crises. A list of many High School Model United nations programs can be found at http://www.tiac.net/users/process/modelun . Many colleges host Model United Nations' for high school students as well, such as Georgetown University (http://www.modelun.org ) and Cornell University (http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Quad/5900 ). Finally, a truly international Model united nations is hosted by The Hague and can be accessed at http://www.thimun.demon.nl .
Links:
Youth and Government: http://www.calymca.org
Youth Convention: http://www.youthlink.org
College Republican National Convention: http://www.crnc.org
High School Model United Nations: http://www.tiac.net/users/process/modelun
Georgetown University Model UN: http://www.modelun.org
Cornell University Model UN: http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Quad/5900
The Hague Model UN: http://www.thimun.demon.nl