According to the BC curriculum students in grade 5 should learn about political and legal structures that make up governance, and learn an appreciation for the process. Here on Bowen, teachers are delving into the municipal election head-on with their students in order to bring that aspect of the curriculum to life.
Members of the grade 5 – 7 class at Island Discovery Learning Centre have met with all three mayoral candidates. They’ve also sat in on a council meeting, and toured the municipal hall.
All of the students expressed an eagerness to vote in a few years – and said that they feel confident they’ll be ready to do so.
“You need to get to know all of the candidates, and what they are about,” says Asha Dobson. “You can’t just vote for people because they’re your friends or you know them.”
The class agreed that one thing they would like to see brought up as an issue is creating opportunity for people their age to get work experience.
“We’ve heard about how there needs to be a home for seniors, but also, if that existed, we could help out,” says Thomas De Zwart.
Kate Matson adds, “It’s not just about paid jobs, but getting the chance to do things that are meaningful.”
Matson, her twin sister Maia, and Liz Hodges all commute to school on Bowen from East Vancouver two days a week. They say they’ve developed a “fear” of ongoing cuts to ferry services.
The class also pointed to the decision to destroy the bike park as an example of how council has not considered the needs of kids on Bowen.
“It was there one minute, and gone the next,” says Asha Dobson.
The bike park decision is one that the students in Andrea Layzell’s grade 5 class at BICS have a hard time accepting.
“They shouldn’t just DO things,” says Ellie Walters. “They should talk to people more. When they decided to take down the bike park, they only talked to the person who ran it, not the kids who used it or the parents.”
Among the other concerns expressed by student’s in Layzell’s class were the need for more animal control (to deal with skunks), the need for improved walking trails, the desire for more amenities near the golf course, and a medical clinic.
Roughly half the class expressed excitement about getting the chance to vote in eight years time.
The students who were less enthusiastic about voting concluded that if politicians want more people to vote, they need to get out and talk to them, face to face.
