Over the past two weeks, students in years 7 and 8 have taken part in a Kids Voting programme. The sessions were created to give students a first-hand experience with the Electoral Commission's civics education programme. The aim was to foster the next generation of civics-savvy New Zealanders and empower young people to have their say.
After learning about the main political parties, their leaders and policies, types of government, the voting system and referendums, students took part in a mock vote last Friday. On Monday, we counted the votes and compared them with the 'real life' results. Interestingly, 52% of year 7/8 students voted for Labour - very close to the actual result. The Green Party came in second place with 23% of the votes. One student attributed this to the age of the voters saying, "Kids are a lot more liberal. Opinions are a lot different when you’re young.” National came in third place with 10% of the votes and ACT in fourth with 7%. New Zealand First and Vision New Zealand both received 1 vote each.
Most students said they found it easy to choose a party and which way they wanted to vote in the referendums. However, some students admitted that they just voted the same way as their parents, or followed their friends.
It remains to be seen how our referendum results compare with the 'real life' outcomes; some students believe that our results may differ considerably from the general public's. In total, 86% of students supported the End of Life Choice Act, and 63% supported the legalisation of cannabis.
Year 7/8 students really enjoyed the opportunity to talk about real-life issues in a safe, educational context.