CIVICS IN ACTION 2020 WRITING PROGRAM LAUNCHES
The National Children’s Campaign (NCC), Write the World (WtW) and Facing History & Ourselves (FH) have joined together to launch Civics in Action 2020, a writing and multimedia storytelling initiative for teens around the world who are following the 2020 election cycle.
NCC’s mission is to encourage America to make children a political priority through the power of media, grassroots activism, internet partnerships, and collaboration with subject matter experts, celebrities, and business and community leaders. WtW is dedicated to improving the writing of high school students through a global online community and guided interactive process that helps them develop their voices, refine their editing skills, and publish on an international platform. FH uses historical lessons to challenge teachers and students to confront bigotry and hate by connecting past examples with present day challenges to form the basis of Civics in Action writing prompts.
The process of writing reminds me of Henry Miller, who once said, “Writing, like life itself, is a voyage of discovery.”
The complex nature of politics reminds me of Plato, who once said, “Mankind will never see an end of trouble until lovers of wisdom come to hold political power, or the holders of power become lovers of wisdom.”
Thanks to Civics in Action 2020, a select group of teens are embarking on another voyage of writing discovery that allows them to become wiser about politics. It’s the type of assignment that uses the left side of your brain that controls logic and the right side of the brain that controls creativity, which invariably helps sharpen your writing skills.
Everybody has a political perspective. Your opinions can be guided by a fundamental belief system or you can arrive at those opinions after carefully studying issues. The teens of today are the voters of tomorrow. Civics in Action 2020 helps teens become more informed future voters. In addition. participating teens can become more passionate about specific issue that spark a desire to become political activists. Teens can also become more adept at using well-reasoned, fact-based arguments that persuade others to embrace their viewpoints about contentious issues of the day.
WtW will publish the work of Civics in Action Fellows, a group of 20 young writers from around America and the world, who are investigating, reporting, and reflecting upon what it means to be an active citizen from now until January 21st. Working with WtW editors, Fellows are given the chance to publish non-partisan works in a Civics in Action Broadcast, including civic-minded op-eds, long-form articles, letters to the editor, political journalism and multimedia storytelling.
NCC, WtW and FH are excited about this venture and will provide timely updates in the coming months through our various media channels. You will want to stay tuned.