SAMPLE DIALOGUE TWO

Topic: Service and Politics: Making the Connection

Goal or Objective: To introduce students to dialogues, explore the connection between service and activism and to discuss the support of the college for student public life

Day, Date, Time, Duration: June 21, 2002 (approximately 2 hours)

Format:

Participants:

Other invited guests/experts: None

Press/Public Relations: Local Paper columnist, school paper writer and photographer

Agenda:

1) Introduction

Have everyone in the group introduce themselves and say one word they think of when they hear the word “Service” and one word when they hear the word “Politics” (about 10 minutes),

2) Framing the Dialogue

Quickly frame the conversation by reading the following list of data :

		Political participation among young people is down to record lows. In the 2000 elections, only 28% of 18-24 year olds voted, down from 42% in 1972 when 18 year-olds were first given the right to vote. In 2000 only 26% of college freshmen voiced the belief that keeping up with politics is important, compared with 58% in 1966. Less than 20% of 18-29 year olds say they are proud of how democracy works in the United States, compared to over 50% of those 50 years old and older. Only 1 in 10 young people ages 18-29 is able to name both their United States Senators, compared to 1 in 3 of those over the age 45. Yet involvement in community service is up at record highs. Volunteering is at an all time high among young people. Up to 70% of young people are involved in volunteering, belonging to an organization, or helping to solve a community problem. The UCLA Freshman Survey in 2001 reported over 82% of high school seniors reporting frequent or occasional volunteer work in their senior year of high school. Taken from Cynthia Gibson (2001) “From Inspiration to Participation: A Review of Perspectives on Youth Civic Engagement,” The Grantmaker Forum on Community and National Service.

3) Ask the Group

Is this accurate? What can we do? In this dialogue, we hope to understand why there is this disconnect between service and politics. More importantly, we hope to come up with some recommendations for increasing the connection.

4) Work in Pairs

Next, break the group into pairs of two and have each tell the other a story of something they have done recently that involved service and a story they have done involving politics (about 5 minutes, making sure each student in the pair has a chance to tell her or his stories).

5) Big Group

After the group has shared their stories in pairs, get back into the big group and have the pairs share some of their conversations of service and politics (about 10 minutes) with framing questions, such as:

- What are some examples of stories of service that were told?
- What are some examples of stories of politics?
- Were the stories different? If so, why do you think that?
- Was it difficult to think of stories of politics? Why or why not?

6) Small Groups

Next break into small groups and have the groups discuss why they think college students are more involved in community service yet fewer are involved in politics and civic life. Ask them to discuss this—Is it accurate from their experiences? Why are fewer students voting and participating in politics? Then ask them to brainstorm ideas on how their college or university, public officials, and communities can increase interest in politics and voting among college students (about 15 minutes).

7) Large Group Recording of Ideas

Finally, get back into the big group and have each of the smaller groups present their ideas to increase college student interest in politics and voting (about 20 minutes). Scribe these ideas on flip chart paper and save them to record on the web site.

Wrap Up / Action

Review the ideas briefly with the group to see which ideas seem to have the greatest support or highest priority. Call together a group of students or work with existing student organizations to develop a campaign to implement the strategies suggested by students.