This Is Why Voting Is Amazing (even in high school)!
Beyond politics and into the classroom
I remember those schooling years. High school days stand out. There is a higher level of democracy decentralized from the teaching community to the student community.
Student Council is where this can be most visible.
Where my middle school has teachers selecting prefects (I guess they figured that younger adolescents are still pretty dumb), high school has students choosing their own leaders.
It Was The First Taste Of Democracy In Play.
All nominated candidates have to be on stage for pitching. They get 10 minutes to present their ideas to better the student community and to sell their candidature potential.
There were many rounds of elimination. It was 50% elimination each round for 3 rounds, leading into the semi-finals. As the numbers go, it went from 20 to 10 to 5 for the preliminaries.
Semi-final is set to be a debate of sorts, something along the lines of the Presidential Debate in the United States.
The Disciplinary Board, by tradition, is the moderating body. They get to cast their vote of approval or not, very much like modern-day talent shows.
At this point, the students (meaning those not contesting and just enjoying the show) get to vote candidates into the finals.
This is where the fun comes. When a debate is over, and the Disciplinary Board casts their approvals, it would always seem that the academically inclined candidates come upfront.
Don’t forget this is a Democracy where the massive student body gets to vote. Almost no academic types survived the student voting because they are too boring for the masses.
While there is an exception (just one because she is visually pleasing, my point of view), the student body would almost always cast their votes to the candidates that are wayward in conduct and Down South in academic performance.
Pretty obviously, the Disciplinary Board moderators almost always shook their heads in disbelief when they had to announce the finalists.
Come to the finals — Every single bookworm is gone. It is the battle between 2 wayward guys who almost always never tuck in their shirts and the visually appealing female. Much as I hate to say this, I think this is “Populism” at play even at the junior levels.
And it creates a divisive student voting population too. The girls are divided in terms of their choice of guy candidates. The guys urge the girls not to be stupid and to vote for the pretty female candidate who they deemed to be the best person for the job.
So, all-female votes went to the 2 wayward guys. All male guys vote for the female candidate. And even though the overall male voting population stands at 45% overall, they manage to send their favorite candidate to the pedestal.
Speaking of Democracy and Populism at play.
The Aftermath.
The story doesn’t end there. While the pretty girl became the President of the Student Council, the Vice-President and Secretary roles were filled by the 2 wayward guys.
You can imagine the power-play and tug of war. There are rare occasions of a united front as the academically-inclined-visually-pleasing girl’s policies of supporting more academic hours are not in line with the 2 wayward-but-somehow-charismatic-guys’ policies of less required hours in school for non-academic developments. For example, sporting competitions.
As a result, policies are seldom tabled to the Disciplinary Board for approval.
The student population expecting a better school year, waited in vain.
My Reflection Looking Back.
Voting in itself carries a strong element of populism. 1 man 1 vote, 1 lady 1 vote has its merits and demerits.
We have to be careful when we are exercising our votes. Maybe we have to be careful choosing those who should vote.
Populism can be dangerous. If we can imagine for a second, tabling a vote to a population that is suffering from poverty, asking for their mandate to distribute wealth within the nation equally to all citizens.
We can imagine the uproar from the “Haves” who have worked their entire lives to get there. We can imagine that the voting results will carry an overwhelming majority of “Yes”.
Voting needs to be deliberated. We have to be careful. We cannot be swayed by emotions.
Beyond that, I say sure. Let’s vote.
So, what’s for lunch?
Be Careful When We Vote,
Aldric
Related Stories from the Author.
About the Author:
As a content contributor, I write my observations from daily life and my business exposure.
Because our life experience is the bedrock of our unique perspectives.
As a Consultant by training, I believe in making the complex simple.
Because simplicity adds value.
And with clarity — We grow.
Follow me for my stories on Medium!
This is more “About Me”.
Do reach out and say hi on Linkedin!