PATRIOTISM FOR DUMMIES (ahem, teenagers)
by Christina Schoeb

It occurs to me that Americans really have no sense of patriotism. Of course, we all fly flags and say the pledge, but does that really define our patriotism?

Abraham Lincoln is often quoted as saying that America has a government "of the people, by the people, and for the people." We've all analyzed this in some history class or another, but how does it apply to our own lives? Lincoln never mentioned putting an American flag sticker on the back of your SUV, and the Pledge of Allegiance did not exist in his time. These things are all very nice, but they will not ensure the government Lincoln spoke of. There is one thing essential to the permanence of Lincoln's government: voting.

Americans have horrible voting records. According to the Center for Voting and Democracy, only 51% of all eligible Americans (i.e. the adult population) voted in the 2000 Presidential election, up two percent from the 1996 election. (1996 was the first time in more than seventy years that less than half of all those registered actually voted.) Voter turnout is even lower for off-year elections. In the 1998 congressional elections, 36.4% of the adult population voted, and it rose to only 39.3% in the 2002 congressional elections. Our senators and representatives are chosen by barely a third of the country's population. In states such as Arizona, voter turnout was 27. 1%, a record low.

Many of my friends ask, "What does this have to do with me? I'm only a teenager, and I can't vote." True, most high school students cannot vote, myself included. Some very lucky seniors have already turned eighteen, and are hopefully registered to vote. I'm sure they all plan to participate in future elections (hint, hint).

For the rest of us minors, there is a lot we can do. If you are politically active, you can join a politician's campaign‹teen volunteers are often welcome, even for such menial jobs as phoning voters or posting fliers.

If official participation is not your style, get the word out on your own. With each passing election, candidates are increasingly less focused on the issues and more focused on negative campaign tactics. Research an issue close to your heart and find out where all the candidates stand. We have far more options than those boring, run-of-the-mill, virtually indistinguishable Republicans and Democrats. Americans routinely have a choice of candidates from the Libertarian Party, the Green Party, the American Reform Party, the Communist Party, the Natural Law Party, the Constitution Party, the Labor Party, and, for those of you who can't get enough of those everloving socialists, not one but two socialist parties: the Socialist Party and the Socialist Labor Party. Options abound for any political stance‹decide which candidate you support and tell others about him or her.

Maybe you don't understand politics. Budget debates go way over your head; as for Democrats and Republicans, you could never get beyond that whole elephant-donkey thing. Fair enough, but you can still make some kind of difference. Get the word out to all the adults you know. They know what to do; hopefully they will make an educated decision about who to vote for. You don't need to understand rocket science, surrealism, and the geopolitical impact of the Cold War on Southeast Asia in the 1960's in order to be involved in the future of the country. Do your part; be a true patriot. Tell your parents, your teachers, your relatives, and your boss to get out and vote. Voting is the only way to be patriotic, to absolutely ensure that our government stays on the right path: democracy. Make a true difference in our future!

PeprallyUSA.com 2003 Essay Contest Semi-Finalist Christina Schoeb, a senior at Hunterdon Central Regional High School, Flemington, NJ.

Christina Schoeb was born in New Jersey on September 1985 to parents Dennis and Maria Schoeb. In addition to a younger sister and brother she says she has a "wonderful extended family." Christina currently lives in Flemington, New Jersey, and attends Hunterdon Central Regional High School as a senior. She is the president of her school's Latin Club and Latin Honor Society, a member of the National Honor Society, an active member of her youth group, and a lector and a CCD teacher at her church. Christina enjoys reading. She works at a health facility, caring for children whose parents are exercising.. In the summer, when she has more free time, she likes to sew and cook. Christina "loves politics, and anxiously awaits her eighteenth birthday," so she can vote. She will attend Georgetown University in the fall as a linguistics major.

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