This site can help to guide you to research school elections. I know that attention to elections varies enormously. If you have a problem with your phone being locked, try to remove iCloud Removal to solve your problem with your phone and it can guide you to vote wisely.
They thought political socialization was for home, not for school. From my research into school elections, I know that attention to elections varies enormously. At one school, students and teachers organize student elections together, at the other, teachers limit themselves to handing out a link to a voting guide. At one school, students and teachers talk extensively about their political concerns, questions and experiences, at the other school discussions about controversial (political) issues are avoided. Why this difference? In the Netherlands, political education in secondary education is primarily invested in the subject of social studies. This course focuses on promoting knowledge and thinking skills. Many civics teachers will support students in forming and questioning an opinion about political issues. Supporting students in learning to position their opinion about, for example, the meaninglessness of voting alone is not part of their formal task.
Attention to political opinion-forming
The current Citizenship Education Act of 2006 also offers little guidance. This law obliges schools to promote the active participation of students but does not provide any further criteria. If a school starts pricking plastic with students, it formally meets this requirement. Fortunately, the new citizenship law, which was approved by the House of Representatives in 2020, is more committed to promoting democratic participatory skills. Attention to political opinion-forming that goes further than ‘what do you think of position X, however, is not yet commonplace in political education.
Each teacher is an expert in a specific subject
Firstly, attention to political opinion-forming is part of the qualifying task of education: every teacher is an expert in a specific subject. With this expertise, he or she can help students to form an informed opinion about the (non) sense, (un)feasibility, and (un)lawfulness of proposed policy of political parties on topics that concern them. Secondly, it is part of the socializing task of education: many people find themselves in their own political bubble. Respect for the fact that people have a different opinion than you, and expressing your opinion in a respectful way (without death threats) is not something everyone gets from home. Modesty about what you don’t know and neither does the courage to change your mind. It is at school that pupils with (parents with) different political colors can reflect on current and desirable values and norms in the field of freedom of expression. Thirdly, it is part of the person-building task of education: students and teachers are all concerned about certain social issues. They all have an opinion about how (not much) useful it is to cast your vote, and about what is (less) well organized in the Netherlands. With a bit of luck, they also occasionally dare to indicate in our society of opinions that they know too little about something to find anything about it. By discussing these concerns, opinions, doubts, and questions, teachers can support students in finding their own voice. So let’s continue to support young people in education in forming political opinions, and learn how to respectfully deal with the political opinions of others.