Boys/Girls State
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Boys State and Girls State are summer leadership and citizenship programs sponsored by The American Legion and the American Legion Auxiliary for high school students between their junior and senior years. Boys and Girls State programs are held in each of the U.S. states (excluding Hawaii), usually on a college campus within that state. In general male and female programs are held separately, but at least four states — Georgia, Nebraska, Louisiana, and Pennsylvania — host Boys' and Girls' State on the same campus on the same week.
Program participants are first divided up into subgroups that are given city names. The "citizens" of each of these cities then elect mock municipal officials and representatives to the mock State Legislature. If enough "citizens" are present, then a county level is added to the program between city and state. The participants also elect state officials, such as Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and other state-level officials that their real state has. The legislature then meets to organize, elect leaders, and to pass bills, in a way that is similar to how their actual legislature operates. Some states hold mock trials, the participants volunteering as lawyers, criminals, and juries, and others are able to form bands and choirs from the talent pools that they have assembled.
Boys/Girls State is staffed by members and community leaders who volunteer their time and effort to this enterprise. Its administrative costs are defrayed by their Department (state) organizations. Delegates to Boys/Girls State are selected with the help of their high school principals on the basis of potential leadership qualities and must be between their Junior and Senior years in high school to qualify. Through these programs, it is estimated that each summer the American Legion Auxiliary alone is adding 19,000 girls trained in the processes of government to a group that by the end of 2006 will total about 1,103,000.
Today's largest Boys State occurs annually in Ohio with over 1,300 boys congregating at Bowling Green State University. A group from Israel recently visited the "Buckeye Boys State" in Ohio to use it as a template for their own version.
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[edit] History
The creation of the Boys State program is credited to Hayes Kennedy, who in 1935 was an instructor at the Loyola University School of Law in Chicago and Americanism Chairman of the Illinois Department of the American Legion and Harold Card, the Department Boy Scout Chairman and Junior High School instructor. Hayes Kennedy and Harold Card became concerned about a project underway in the late 1930's called "Young Pioneer Camps" promoted by the Fascist Party to attract high school students. At these camps the Fascist Party would advocate the virtues of the Fascist system and the uselessness of Democracy. Hayes Kennedy felt that a counter movement must be started among the ranks of the nation's youth to stress the importance and value of a Democratic form of government and maintain an effort to preserve and perpetuate it.
The Illinois Department of The American Legion approved Hayes Kennedy's and Harold Card's project and in June 1935, the very first "Boys State" in the nation was held on the grounds of the Illinois State Fair. As this program succeeded and spread throughout the United States, the American Legion Auxiliary began providing similar opportunities for girls of high school age. Thus Girls State was founded. The first Girls State was conducted in 1938 and since 1948 has been a regular part of the Auxiliary's better citizenship programs. By 1984, Girls State sessions were held in all 50 states.
[edit] Boys Nation and Girls Nation
Since 1947, each of these Boys State and Girls State programs,except for Hawaii and Alaska, send two delegates to Boys Nation and Girls Nation in Washington, D.C.. Each state chooses their delegates differently. These delegates are sometimes the participants elected to the Governor and Lt. Governor positions, but other states have separate elections for the honor, while still other states appoint their delegates through interviews with the Legionnaires who run each state program.
The event endeavours to teach delegates about the processes of federal government in the United States of America, through taking part in a mock Senate and mock elections of a Boys/Girls Nation Senate President Pro Tempore and Secretary, Vice President, and President, attending lectures and fora, and visiting governmental institutions and historical sites.
[edit] Famous alumni
Famous alumni of the Boys and Girls State programs include Bill Clinton, George Pataki, Mike Huckabee, Tom Brokaw, Jane Pauley, Michelle D. Johnson, Michael Jordan, Mark Wahlberg and Neil Armstrong. [1].
Many United States Senators (including Majority Leader Harry Reid, Bob Menendez, and Lamar Alexander), Governors, and state-level politicians (state senators, state assemblymen, et cetera) are Boys' or Girls' State alumni.
[edit] Criticism
Although Boys/Girls State claims to be non-partisan and non-military, it has been criticized by three Texas high schools students as reflecting the conservative values of its sponsor, the American Legion. According to those critics, although each state operates independently and experiences vary, in their Boys State experience, conservative and military speakers addressed attendees, and militaristic marching and rifle ceremonies are often used. They described their experience as "militaristic, superpatriotic, and heavily tilted to God and country."[1] Although teaching religion is not a function of Boys State, belief in "God and Country" has been included in selection criteria: "Candidates MUST believe in United States Citizenship and the ideals of 'God and Country'".[2] The Texas students critical of the program left early after experiencing "hatred and intolerance."[3]
[edit] References
- ^ State of dysfunction: at Boys State, students learn firsthand how democracy really works. Lessons in intolerance and gay bashing are thrown in free. - Journal, Magazine, Article, Periodical
- ^ Applicant
- ^ State of dysfunction: at Boys State, students learn firsthand how democracy really works. Lessons in intolerance and gay df bashing are thrown in free. - Journal, Magazine, Article, Periodical
