The Student Voices Project is an initiative of the Annenberg Public Policy Center and is made possible by funding from the Annenberg Foundation. Student Voices encourages the civic engagement of young people by bringing the study of local government, policy issues, and political campaigns into the classroom. Working with school districts throughout the country, Student Voices makes the study of government relevant and exciting for high school students by helping them examine how issues they consider important are played out in their own governments and election campaigns.
What should be the next Amendment?
Starting on Labor Day, and pledging to continue until November, President Barack Obama has been rallying support for two proposals, a transportation and infrastructure development plan and a middle- class tax break that he says will help turn the economy around. And stimulating the economy is the reason for creating the transportation plan and continuing the tax break for households that earn less than $250,000 a year. While avoiding specific numbers, the president said the transportation plan...
By now you’ve probably heard about Park 51, better known as the “Ground Zero Mosque.” The Islamic community center, formerly known as the Cordoba Institute, will be a few blocks from where the World Trade Center once stood, which has caused a considerable outcry. Political figures and activists have been expressing their opposition or support for the community center, while some in New York politics are trying to diffuse the situation and offering alternative sites. Do you agree with building ...
Imagine someone you know is arrested by the police. The person is detained, but despite months in jail, he or she has not been charged with any crime. Even worse, he or she has not been offered a chance to defend his or her innocence in court. This scenario was one the founding fathers feared and drove the creation of the Sixth Amendment in the Bill of Rights. The Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution outlines the rights of the citizen who is charged with a crime. It guarantees a suspected ...
In one of the final decisions of the Supreme Court?s 2006-2007 term, the justices considered the controversial Morse v. Frederick case and ruled that principal Deborah Morse was allowed to punish student Joseph Frederick for unfurling a questionable banner, even though it occurred, technically, off the campus of their Juneau, Alaska high school. The ruling has far-reaching implications for your First Amendment rights as a student. Some experts argue that because the message of Frederick?s bann...
Did you know that the level of government that most affects you daily is much closer to home than the White House, the halls of Congress or even your state capitol building? Your local government - city council, county commissioners, etc. - is the level of governance responsible for establishing the speed limit on the streets in your town, setting rules for business, industrial and residential development, funding the public schools and ensuring that there are adequate numbers of police and fi...
It is hard not to notice the signs of the economy in recession. With critical problems facing millions of Americans, the federal government has been assessing the situation and implementing plan after plan to shore up the nation?s financial system and get the economy out of a tailspin. A bulk of the action has been in the form of government spending, helping banks and struggling companies avoid the threat of bankruptcy and creating jobs by investing in infrastructure projects throughout the co...
This video looks at the Supreme Court case of Carey v. Musladin and asks the question, how does the court balance freedom of speech with a fair and balanced trial?
