If the youth of Canada could vote:

Canada's elementary and high school students have done it again.
Like the last federal election, students taking part in Student Vote have again voted for a Conservative minority government.
The students, who took part in mock elections in the week leading up to Oct. 14, awarded 100 seats to the Conservative party.
The NDP came second with 66 seats, while the Liberals and the Green party finished third and fourth respectively, with 54 and 44 seats.
Twenty-four seats went to the Bloc Québécois.


Party Seats Valid ballots cast %
_____________seats/votes/%
Conservative----100 - 108,429----26.8
NDP---------------66 - 96,090-----23.7
Liberal------------54 - 77,996-----19.3
Green-------------44 - 101,119----25
Bloc---------------24 - 4,317-------1.1
Independent-------1 - 3,454-------0.9


Approximately 420,000 students from Grades 5 to 12 in every province and territory participated in Student Vote 2008. In total, 404,848 valid ballots were cast. Out of Canada's 308 ridings, representatives were elected in 286. Voting in three additional ridings resulted in ties.
The 2008 Conservative minority mirrors the 2006 student result, the Conservative party took 128 seats. Similar to 2008, the NDP came second.
What's different from the last election is the growth in popularity for the Greens. While they received only six seats in 2006, their 2008 results jumped to 44 seats, winning ridings in Ontario, Prince Edward Island, British Columbia and Leader Elizabeth May's riding of Central Nova in Nova Scotia.



CBC.ca - Canada Votes - Students opt for Conservative minority in mock elections

[SEAN!]

Originally Posted by R Wellbelove

Canada's elementary and high school students have done it again.
Like the last federal election, students taking part in Student Vote have again voted for a Conservative minority government.
The students, who took part in mock elections in the week leading up to Oct. 14, awarded 100 seats to the Conservative party.
The NDP came second with 66 seats, while the Liberals and the Green party finished third and fourth respectively, with 54 and 44 seats.
Twenty-four seats went to the Bloc Québécois.


Party Seats Valid ballots cast %
Conservative----100 108,429 26.8
NDP---------------66 96,090 23.7
Liberal----------- 54 77,996 19.3
Green------------ 44 101,119 25
Bloc-------------- 24 4,317 1.1
Independent------ 1 3,454 0.9


Approximately 420,000 students from Grades 5 to 12 in every province and territory participated in Student Vote 2008. In total, 404,848 valid ballots were cast. Out of Canada's 308 ridings, representatives were elected in 286. Voting in three additional ridings resulted in ties.
The 2008 Conservative minority mirrors the 2006 student result, the Conservative party took 128 seats. Similar to 2008, the NDP came second.
What's different from the last election is the growth in popularity for the Greens. While they received only six seats in 2006, their 2008 results jumped to 44 seats, winning ridings in Ontario, Prince Edward Island, British Columbia and Leader Elizabeth May's riding of Central Nova in Nova Scotia.



CBC.ca - Canada Votes - Students opt for Conservative minority in mock elections

fuck the youth, they know even less the the people eligible to vote and even that group for the most part are retarded.

[Courtney]

I dont think it is a good idea
even people in there 20's slash every age are retarded and ignorant and no nothing about politics...add some teenagers into the mix and we are just asking for more of a disaster

[Courtney]

ps im sure the teenagers only upped the green party votes because they think smoking weed is cool, most likely has nothing to do with what the party stands for

[Phrenetic]

Their teachers made them ZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[ebbomega]

It's a good idea insomuch that it gets kids interested in the political system. Sure a bunch of them give bullshit votes (I remember in Jr. High a lot of people screaming on the bus that everybody should vote green to legalize weed), but that's why there's an age limit on voting.

Or is everybody forgetting that schools are for learning?

Originally Posted by Phrenetic

Their teachers made them ZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzz

They had this done at the school I work at and the teachers wouldn't even say anything about the parties and what they represented. They also suggested that if the kids weren't sure who to vote for (clueless) then they probably should'nt vote. Therefore only about 80% of the kids voted.

I mean really, the results arnt that different to the final results of our own election except for the green party. But these are students who are being educated about the environmental issues in our world and they dont seem to understand why no one, especially our government, is really doing anything about it.

I think these kids deserve some more credit than what their getting.

Originally Posted by Courtney

I dont think it is a good idea
even people in there 20's slash every age are retarded and ignorant and no nothing about politics...add some teenagers into the mix and we are just asking for more of a disaster

Yeah but this also sounds like our Premier who got cought for drinking and driving.

But even if its only a mock vote, its a great way to expose and incorporate the kids into the protocol of voting.

[GSG9]

then again, introduce me to one 16 year old kid who can explain how a basic economy works or can tell you even a snippet of what their mp/pm candidate has done in the past.

when i was in highschool, all i knew was that ujal dosanj fucked bc in the ass and jean cretien had a fucked face cause of a stroke. and unfortunately i knew more about politics than 75% of my classmates.

fuck, out here ill bet tim felgers radical marijuana party would win.

but daves right this is good stuff these kids gotta learn about the shit somehow.

[-evil-duerr-]

so what does this say about all the voters who did vote conservative...
that they have the judgement of children?

[ebbomega]

No, that their kids go to school.

[SEAN!]

Originally Posted by R Wellbelove

They had this done at the school I work at and the teachers wouldn't even say anything about the parties and what they represented. They also suggested that if the kids weren't sure who to vote for (clueless) then they probably should'nt vote. Therefore only about 80% of the kids voted.

I mean really, the results arnt that different to the final results of our own election except for the green party. But these are students who are being educated about the environmental issues in our world and they dont seem to understand why no one, especially our government, is really doing anything about it.

I think these kids deserve some more credit than what their getting.

YOU'RE A FUCKIN TEACHER, OF COURSE YOU GONNA POLITIZE EVERYTHING

TEACHERS ARE THE BIGGEST BULLSHIT UNION ASSHOLES GOING AROUND, QUOTE SOME SHIT 'I ONLY WANT TO HELP THE KIDS THATS WHY IM STRIKING FOR THREE WEEKS SO I CAN GET A 20% RAISE' FUCK YOU, IF YOU WANTED MONEY YOU SHOULD GO INTO THE PRIVATE SECTOR. YA'LL MUFUCKAHS ONLY WORK 8 MONTHS A YEAR AND STILL COP 54K ON AVERAGE ANNUALLY. YOU LIVING THE MUFUCKIN DREAM.

AND ALL YOU YOUNG TEACHERS COMPLAINING ABOUT YOUR ONLY ON CALL, THATS YOUR FUCKING UNION DOING THAT TO YOU. YOU CAN BE MU'FUCKIN MARRY POPPIN'S IN THE EDUCATION GAME BUT YOU'LL STILL GET FUCKED BECAUSE SOME ONE HAS MORE SENORITY THEN YOU.

P.S. FUCK THAT TEACHERS ARE UNBIASED AN SHIT, WHEN I WAS IN ELEMENTRY SCHOOL I WAS GETTING HELLA TELL YOUR PARENTS TO VOTE NDP VIBES.

[Alex]

From my experience most of my HS teachers expressed their political views very clearly around election time(and other times to a lesser extent) I actually received a %0 on a Law 12 essay in which the purpose was to describe, in our opinion, the perfect legal system(my Law 12 teacher was the biggest communist in the school). I expressed my opinion with references, stats etc. he called it despicable and gave me a 0%. I took my essay to both the AP Lit teachers in the school(1 of them the head of the English dept.) they marked it a 96% and 94% respectively. I then took all 3 marked copies of the essay to the Principal, he read the essay, read the comments from my Law teacher and the two AP Lit teachers, and called my Law teacher in to his office. He ordered the teacher to give me a 95%(split between the two Lit teachers marks).That was an awkward class after that.

My point is is that teachers generally do their best to influence students on political views. The views I expressed in the essay weren't even actually anywhere close to my own, however he had made it so extremely clear how he wanted us to think, that I decided to argue the exact opposite point. A teachers job should be to educate children on events, and encourage them to learn how to think and form views on their own, not to mold students in to duplicates of themselves for their own gain.

[GSG9]

Originally Posted by Alex

From my experience most of my HS teachers expressed their political views very clearly around election time(and other times to a lesser extent) I actually received a %0 on a Law 12 essay in which the purpose was to describe, in our opinion, the perfect legal system(my Law 12 teacher was the biggest communist in the school). I expressed my opinion with references, stats etc. he called it despicable and gave me a 0%. I took my essay to both the AP Lit teachers in the school(1 of them the head of the English dept.) they marked it a 96% and 94% respectively. I then took all 3 marked copies of the essay to the Principal, he read the essay, read the comments from my Law teacher and the two AP Lit teachers, and called my Law teacher in to his office. He ordered the teacher to give me a 95%(split between the two Lit teachers marks).That was an awkward class after that.

My point is is that teachers generally do their best to influence students on political views. The views I expressed in the essay weren't even actually anywhere close to my own, however he had made it so extremely clear how he wanted us to think, that I decided to argue the exact opposite point. A teachers job should be to educate children on events, and encourage them to learn how to think and form views on their own, not to mold students in to duplicates of themselves for their own gain.

mmajor props on takin care of bizness.
i got a 96 on my law essay too. that was a very fun class

[NinjaBoy]

Originally Posted by Courtney

ps im sure the teenagers only upped the green party votes because they think smoking weed is cool

What?

[Carrie]

^ the original article states that grades 5 - 12 participated in the fake election and I guess what courtney is stating is that they thought the green party has something to do with smoking weed when it doesn't.

[miss.myra]

um, nobody has stated the obvious?

these kids are taking their opinions probably 100% from how their parents vote. kids are VERY easily influenced by this.

Originally Posted by miss.myra

um, nobody has stated the obvious?

these kids are taking their opinions probably 100% from how their parents vote. kids are VERY easily influenced by this.

I would have to agree that if these votes were influenced in anyway, it would have to come from the parents. But again I can argue this because many parents don't even talk to their kids about politics. Not to mention this age group is prime for rebellion and an age of thinking and expressing for yourself.

Originally Posted by SEAN!

YOU'RE A FUCKIN TEACHER, OF COURSE YOU GONNA POLITIZE EVERYTHING

TEACHERS ARE THE BIGGEST BULLSHIT UNION ASSHOLES GOING AROUND, QUOTE SOME SHIT 'I ONLY WANT TO HELP THE KIDS THATS WHY IM STRIKING FOR THREE WEEKS SO I CAN GET A 20% RAISE' FUCK YOU, IF YOU WANTED MONEY YOU SHOULD GO INTO THE PRIVATE SECTOR. YA'LL MUFUCKAHS ONLY WORK 8 MONTHS A YEAR AND STILL COP 54K ON AVERAGE ANNUALLY. YOU LIVING THE MUFUCKIN DREAM.

AND ALL YOU YOUNG TEACHERS COMPLAINING ABOUT YOUR ONLY ON CALL, THATS YOUR FUCKING UNION DOING THAT TO YOU. YOU CAN BE MU'FUCKIN MARRY POPPIN'S IN THE EDUCATION GAME BUT YOU'LL STILL GET FUCKED BECAUSE SOME ONE HAS MORE SENORITY THEN YOU.

P.S. FUCK THAT TEACHERS ARE UNBIASED AN SHIT, WHEN I WAS IN ELEMENTRY SCHOOL I WAS GETTING HELLA TELL YOUR PARENTS TO VOTE NDP VIBES.

Sean get your facts straight, im not even going to start with how un realistic you are being.

I have no idea what some of you experienced in highschool, but I have never been influenced by my teachers, infact as students, we would try to ask who our teachers were voting for and they would neglect to share. I too am the same way, as many teachers I have witnessed also hold their opinions to them selfs. As I explained teachers would not even describe what each party represented before the students voted as they did not want to sway their vote in any way.

I'm not going to deny that there are probably some teachers out there who forget how influential they can be. But take for instance Alex's view on teachers is based on one bad apple, even though he not only found two other teachers who gave an un-bias mark, but he also had the principal show an un-biased view as well. Thats only 1/4 teachers who showed a bias veiw, but Alex is certain its all of them!?!

People have such a narrow view of teachers and many seem to forget that their view comes from an early age when you were a student, not an adult. As an adult looking back at my teachers I had a very different view of who they where and what they did than I do now.

For the record I know of teachers and school board staff who did voted Conservative, Liberal, or Green... the're not all NDP supporters.

[Alex]

^ I didn't intend my remarks to generalize ALL teachers although re-reading it I can see how that was interpreted. I had a few great teachers in high school, and several horrendous teachers. I had a little game with one of my teachers(one of the aforementioned AP Lit teachers). He made it painfully obvious on every subject we were reading what he believed the message to be. I would mark down all of his points, then do my best to form an argument in my essays to convey another view, usually contradictory to his own. He would mark my essays, and usually had to staple blank sheets to my essays as his notes wouldn't fit. He would counter argue my points, but would mark my work(and I have to say very fairly) based solely on how confidently I was able to convey my message and also, of course, grammar/spelling and structure. He was a teacher who had very strong opinions and views, he was vocal about them, but encouraged his students to challenge his views and form their own.

Originally Posted by Alex

^ I didn't intend my remarks to generalize ALL teachers although re-reading it I can see how that was interpreted. I had a few great teachers in high school, and several horrendous teachers. I had a little game with one of my teachers(one of the aforementioned AP Lit teachers). He made it painfully obvious on every subject we were reading what he believed the message to be. I would mark down all of his points, then do my best to form an argument in my essays to convey another view, usually contradictory to his own. He would mark my essays, and usually had to staple blank sheets to my essays as his notes wouldn't fit. He would counter argue my points, but would mark my work(and I have to say very fairly) based solely on how confidently I was able to convey my message and also, of course, grammar/spelling and structure. He was a teacher who had very strong opinions and views, he was vocal about them, but encouraged his students to challenge his views and form their own.

" My point is is that teachers generally do their best to influence students on political views. "

Generally is much strong than 25%. Of course teachers are going to be influential, its a must when it comes to education as modivation is key and the driving force to learn more and explore.

To be honest I think it was a tough call when the teachers decided to not even explain what the parties represented. Before them was a large group of youth voting for something they didnt fulling understand and had so many questions about. As Myra mentioned earlier that many kids are influenced by their parents, but a teacher should be the one to give an un-bias education. However with all the scandals and broken promises by political parties, its near impossible to give a legit and factual meaning to what each party or learder represents.

In defense of the teacher, some courses or classes do try to teach morals. Take for instance a planning class which is trying to teach students about social responsibility. Students are expect to reflect and express how they feel after watching hotel rewanda, helping the homeless, and talking about how we can help our world. If you sent in a report with a capitalist frame of mind thinking that these people get what they deserve... do you really think a teacher is going to give you an A?

The best political education I had from one of my teachers was how to analyst how the media portrays politics. We were given news papers and asked to see what we noticed. This was during the time that Ujal was running and it became clear after repeated articles (that the students noticed) that any information on Ujal was persuaded with pictures of "danger" signs behind him or an article about terrorists in India printed right beside an article of Ujal. Our teacher never told us who he was voting for, nor did he tell who to vote for.
The lesson of this research was to realize how influential the media can be and that we should looker deeper than the front page of the news paper before we make our vote.

[GSG9]

Originally Posted by miss.myra

um, nobody has stated the obvious?

these kids are taking their opinions probably 100% from how their parents vote. kids are VERY easily influenced by this.

i was going to post this but i had assumed it was obvious. ive been trying to cut down on my useless posts