Politics are no place for kids

Shella Gardezi

The Editor's Notebook

I’ve never really understood the parliamentary page program. I hear it’s really hard to be accepted. You need top marks, well-balanced extracurricular activities, volunteer work, probably an interesting essay. Then you get there, and are tasked with the responsibility of delivering documents, glasses of water and making photocopies.

Why, exactly, are we training our best and brightest to be gophers?

Back when I was working as a reporter in Ontario, I had an opportunity to interview a student who returned from a page program at the Ontario legislature. Basically, this opportunity had given him the chance to miss school for a few weeks.

To be fair, there was an actual educational component and, the kid did know an awful lot about the Ontario legislature.

However, when I asked him what the highlight of his experience was he told me it was question period. Apparently he really enjoyed watching a sometimes controversial NDP MPP Peter Kormos and Tim Hudak, who is now the leader of the provincial Conservatives, get up and yell at each other.

So, they pulled an A student out of class where he was, presumably, learning about teamwork, co-operation, hard work and perseverance, so he could deliver water in an environment where the guy who shouts the loudest wins the day.

That’s why I’m wary of Coun. Joy Davies’ proposal to start a civics program for high school-aged students. My first concern is that it’s an initiative of council. Any civics program should be delivered by a disinterested third party, because let’s face it, our council doesn’t always follow the rules. A teacher would be able to help deconstruct what students have learned by helping them identify any biases and uphold values like openness and transparency. I’m not saying councillors don’t have these values, but they don’t always suit their purposes.

My second concern is that students learn by doing. An advisory program where they could appoint their own chair and have their own debates, similar to the now defunct youth table, would give them a lot more experience without any inappropriate pressure from individual councillors.

Let’s hope the school board considers the commitment it may be making if it agrees to this program, because, from what I’ve seen, politics is no place for kids.

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