Case for Support

Mission

Help kids develop an understanding of democracy through education and civic action

The Problem

Americans who live in Washington, DC are denied many of their rights to full citizenship, including representation in the House and Senate, and local government autonomy. Parents in the nation's capital, themselves frustrated by the situation, often struggle with how to explain this glaring inequity to their children.

The Solution

Through the unique programs of the Friends of the DC Young Suffragists, children learn more than an explanation of the problem. They work on the solution! Through hands-on parent-child workshops, the DC Young Suffragists explore history, meet with civic leaders, rally for justice and take action to experience participative democracy. Boys and girls learn the ins and outs of local and national government from an action-oriented, problem-solving, pavement-pounding approach.

In Washington, the DC Young Suffragists use the problem of DC residents' lack of representation in Congress as a real and pertinent example of how to affect change through democratic means. Chapters in other parts of the country may tackle this same issue or focus on other problems that plague their own communities. We are careful not to place an adult agenda on the children but instead encourage them to explore the problem, the facts, and the solutions themselves. By engaging children in participative democracy, by studying historical problems of inequity and their solutions, by teaching methods to enact change, and by supporting kid-directed, project-based learning, Friends of Young Suffragists facilitate and nurture the value of civic engagement so critical to successful democracy.

The result: a new generation of citizens -- empowered, enthusiastic, informed.

By teaching young children the importance of engaged and active citizenship, we enable them to make their communities stronger. Through the DC Young Suffragist programs, children learn early on that they can and should make a difference.

Since our beginnings in 2003, we have welcomed a growing number of DC area families and friends participating in our programs. We expect that, by the time our oldest members are 18 (2012), they will be voting for two US Senators and a voting Representative from the District of Columbia. Whether or not this is the case, we know that today's Young Suffragists are tomorrow's active, educated citizens, who will work tirelessly for a more perfect Union.

The Power of Children

Unique to our organization is our belief that even very young children can understand the basic principles of civics including voting, leadership, and representation. Children enjoy our active workshops, taking the initiative to write their own slogans and songs to further their cause. Our programs include children of all ages, thus each child takes away a different set of learnings. At home, families discuss and explore the issues further. In the end our experience has shown that children view challenging civics problems with a purity of principle that is refreshingly apolitical.

Our Growing Needs

Our programs are free of charge and open to the public. In 2005, we are expanding to reach schools and communities across Washington, DC. We are working with the District of Columbia Public Schools curriculum office to embrace project-based civics learning at the elementary school level, facilitating community improvement and helping to resolve the problem of disenfranchisement.

In the coming year, we also plan to develop a teacher tool-kit for elementary students around the country to learn about DC's situation in particular, and the power and methods of kids' active civic engagement in general. By 2006, our nationwide outreach will encourage children and families around the country to participate in problem-solving and democracy in their own communities, planting the seeds for Young Suffragists everywhere to become lifelong active citizens.

Kids across the rest of America have full representation.
So what are we? Chopped liver?!

--Garreth McMullen, Fourth Grader and Member of the DC Young Suffragists