Manitobans will vote in the next provincial election on April 19, 2016 and to spark interest and discussion among youth, Elections Manitoba is hosting a school-based challenge that will have students weigh in on the democratic process.
The CitizenNext Video Challenge is open to grades 7-12 classes throughout Manitoba and runs from September 23 to November 4. Classes will create their own videos in response to three challenges, each introduced through videos by young civic leaders. Classes will get a new challenge to address each two weeks. Videos will be awarded points and badges based on specific criteria. Two classes with the most points (one from grades 7-8 and one from 9-12) will receive a class pizza party and a $500 grant to award to a registered charity the class chooses.
The video challenge is an extension of the CitizenNext initiative that Elections Manitoba launched in 2011, which promotes early civic engagement of youth and encourages parents to bring their children with them when they vote. The initiative has the broad aim of promoting democratic awareness among young adults.
“Research has shown that those who are civically engaged at a young age are more likely to vote and be active in their communities as adults,” states Shipra Verma, Manitoba’s chief electoral officer. “With this video challenge, we wanted to work with educators to get students thinking about democracy and what it means to them,” she adds.
The challenges cover three topics:
- Representation – 2016 marks the 100th anniversary of women getting the vote in Manitoba, but do we have equal representation today? How could it improve?
- Canadian Democratic Rights – Canada has rights and freedoms other countries are striving to achieve. What are they and what impact do they have?
- Mandatory Voting – Is mandatory voting the recommended way to increase participation?
Teachers are encouraged to visit citizennext.ca where they can register and find a full overview of the challenge.
