In schools, polls are open

Natick High School senior Nicole McNair can't vote in the Nov. 2 presidential election. Her 18th birthday falls on Nov. 5, three days too late.

But that hasn't diminished her interest in politics this year. Both of her parents were laid off from their jobs in the last two years, and she worries about how she will be able to afford college. McNair was riveted when local party organizers sponsored a debate in the high school auditorium this week between US Representative Barney Frank, a Newton Democrat, and Ron Crews, an Ashland Republican who is running against US Representative James McGovern, a Worcester Democrat. The pair were taking the roles of Senator John Kerry and President George Bush, respectively.

''I have strong feelings against Bush" and the war in Iraq, McNair said. ''I think you can't fix somewhere else until you're fixed at home."

Teachers, principals, and analysts who follow voting trends say they're seeing a surge of interest among young people in this year's elections, even among teenagers who can't vote.

''I've characterized 2004 as the perfect storm for youth and young adult participation" in elections, said William A. Galston, director of the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement in Washington, D.C.

Galston said it's because of the hot issues, the starkly different positions of the candidates, and a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign to encourage young voters. Even his 15-year-old son is talking to him about the election, he said.

The renewed political interest bucks a trend of declining youth interest in politics. A survey funded by the Pew Charitable Trust found that the number of people between the ages of 18 and 24 who voted between 1972 and 2000 declined 13 percent nationwide. Massachusetts saw a 16 percent decline.

Chris Schmidt, a teacher at Franklin High School, said many of his students seem more politically ''in tune" this year. He organized his senior history classes into political parties, gave them $30 budgets ($15 for Nader), and told them they would need to register at least 350 students for a schoolwide mock election.

Students weren't ''jumping up and down" for joy about all the work, he said, but many seemed imbued with a sense of purpose. Schmidt said he thinks many students felt like their votes had meaning after the close 2000 election. ''I think that was the spark for a lot of these kids."

Diane Hemond, a social studies teacher at Wellesley High School, said the cable network C-SPAN plans to film the school's election on Nov. 1.

The school is also holding a political cartoon contest, and students have launched a drive to prod their parents and other adults to pledge that they will go to the polls.

Hemond sees the war in Iraq and the fact that Kerry is from Massachusetts as spurring interest in politices this year. ''Certainly, the polarization of the nation has seeped into their world," she added.

Principal Rena Mirkin said she overheard several students in the hallway discussing whether they should watch the Red Sox or the presidential debate.

''High school kids are concerned about rumors of the draft, the war in Iraq," Mirkin said. ''Don't forget, these kids were freshmen in high school during 9/11. They were in school during the Columbine shootings; they've been through testing controversies. They've very alert and aware."

She cautions teachers and staff to keep their personal views out of the classroom.

''The kids, of course, are dying to know what we think," she added.

Mixing politics and education recently backfired for a Bellingham teacher who was removed from a class for showing students media photographs of soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners. The teacher filed a lawsuit against the town School Department for violating his right to free speech, and the case was dropped after the school reinstated him.

Bill Schechter, a history teacher at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School, said if students ask him how he plans to vote, he will tell them.

''I won't duck it," Schecter said. ''My main interest is in getting conversation going."

But he added that the school and faculty tend to be overwhelmingly liberal. The school has conducted mock elections since he started working there 32 years ago, he said. The only time a Democrat didn't win was 1986, when 52 percent of students voted for Ronald Reagan.

''The dominant topic is still what college are you going to," he said of student conversation. ''But there is a sense communicated to kids by adults . . . that there are huge things at stake" in this election.

When students at St. John's High School in Shrewsbury sought to create Young Democrats and Young Republicans clubs this year, school officials allowed only a neutral ''politics club," said Headmaster Michael Welch.

Welch said officials at the Catholic school had not yet determined how the club would handle hot-button topics like gay marriage or abortion.

''Our education is values-based," Welch said. ''Everyone can see the confrontational nature of politics in today's society. We wanted to extract the biases."

Even middle schoolers are showing signs of election fever. At Hanscom Middle School in Lincoln, which serves grades 4 through 8 at Hanscom Air Force Base, students receive election updates at least three mornings a week. The updates are prepared by sixth-graders, said Principal Barry Hopping.

Hopping said he doesn't know which way the student body will vote. But he said he sees students as young as fourth and fifth grades closely following the campaign, he said.

''The kids have taken that very much to heart," he said. ''In terms of trying to get them interested, it's been a very easy sell for us."

Karl Kraus, a history teacher at Pollard Middle School in Needham, said his students have a seemingly endless supply of questions about this year's elections. In previous elections, he has set aside five or 10 minutes of class time for election questions. This year, students are still asking questions about election issues 45 minutes into the class.

Most often, they're asking questions about the war and Iraq, he said.

''This year they started with a level of interest I've never seen before," Kraus said. ''I think this election is just so close lots of people are talking about it. I think the kids get it."

At Natick High School, student support appears to be going to Kerry, if the recent debates are any indication. Students clapped and cheered wildly during US Representative Barney Frank's introduction, causing him to ''shush" them and the League of Women Voters moderator to repeatedly ask for a halt in outbursts of applause.

The school will conduct a mock election, using a voting machine, before the Nov. 2 elections.

Paulos Papadopulos, a junior, said he remains undecided. Citing the influence of corporate donations, he questioned whether either candidate is truly his own man. ''I'm debating whether it's justified to vote for the lesser of two evils," he said.

His friend Emily Lubell, 17, said she will probably vote for Kerry, whom she sees as better for the American worker.

Mitch Haddad, 17, described himself as a liberal who supports abortion rights and Bush's proposals to decrease taxes. He said he'll have four more years before his first presidential election, but ''I think I should start finding out where I belong."