蜜桃影视

See previous 74 Interviews: Journalist Paul Tough on class, race and the pursuit of college; EdBuild鈥檚 Rebecca Sibilia on America鈥檚 鈥榡acked up鈥� school funding system; Parkland teacher, filmmaker talk HBO documentary on the shooting and its aftermath; and the full archive of 74 interviews.

Before the gunshots rang out at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, AP government teacher Jeff Foster spent the day lecturing his Florida students on the political power of special interest groups 鈥� including the National Rifle Association.

Because of the gun group鈥檚 vice grip on American policy, he told his students, tragedies like the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School come and go without major reforms. 鈥淚f we can鈥檛 change gun laws now after little innocent kids get shot up in a school,鈥� he recalled telling his students, 鈥渋t鈥檚 never going to happen.鈥�

That afternoon in February 2018, a gunman opened fire at Foster鈥檚 school and killed 17 people. Practically overnight, several of his students, including David Hogg and Emma 骋辞苍锄谩濒别锄, became potent figures in the divisive debate over American gun laws.

鈥淚t was really just a weird coincidence that it happened that way,鈥� Foster told 蜜桃影视. 鈥淏ut it also might have been the impetus for why these kids were like 鈥楴ot this time.鈥欌��

In response to the tragedy, the Parkland students went head-to-head with the NRA by forming their own special interest group, March for Our Lives, to advocate for new gun laws and inspire young people to get out and vote. Foster, who helped ignite their political fire, stood by their side to provide advice and support.

For two decades, Foster has used his classroom to incubate a new generation of active citizens who recognize the power they wield in shaping our government and political discourse. Now, after helping propel his students to the national stage, he hopes to empower an even younger cohort. Through his new book 鈥�,鈥� Foster aims to imprint children ages 7 to 12 on the power of civics, offering a roadmap on how young people can become change agents.

鈥淲e live in a great country that allows every person to effect change,鈥� Foster writes. 鈥淭here are new issues popping up every day. How we deal with these new problems is what is going to define the next generation 鈥斅爕our generation. Don鈥檛 be a bystander. Be a problem solver.鈥�

Ahead of the high-profile presidential election next month 鈥� when young voters are 鈥� 蜜桃影视 caught up with Foster to discuss his new book and how he鈥檚 working to inspire the next generation of voters. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

蜜桃影视: It鈥檚 an interesting time to be a government teacher, with the Supreme Court confirmation hearings and the election coming up. What did you teach in the classroom today?聽

Foster: We were talking about the hearings themselves. We were talking about some of the formal powers of the president including his ability to appoint people, and then we started talking about how justices are appointed. They鈥檙e astute enough to realize that ideology plays the number-one factor in 2020 in terms of selecting a judge.

I gave them 25 minutes and we just sat together and watched some of the questions during the hearing. Especially this year because of the election, it was almost like a political ad tied to a confirmation hearing. Ted Cruz will spend 15 minutes talking about why the Republicans are better than the Democrats and then ask a couple of questions. Amy Klobuchar, who the kids knew because she ran for president, was after Ted Cruz and she spent 20 minutes ripping the Republicans and talking about health care.

The students asked, 鈥楢ren鈥檛 they supposed to be asking Amy Coney Barrett questions?鈥� I said 鈥楪enerally yes, but it鈥檚 become more of a political circus this year because we are approaching an election.鈥�

(Amy Coney Barrett was Oct. 27 after being confirmed Oct. 26 by the Senate along sharply partisan lines. Her confirmation gives conservatives a 6-3 majority on the high court.)

Life, for better or for worse, really wraps itself around the pandemic. These kids are learning things everyday that鈥檚 directly tied to the government, like the debate over whether to wear masks. We鈥檙e in a school district here where we鈥檙e not really allowed to go back to school full time, yet two counties up, every kid in the county is going back to school. Our governor makes decisions that鈥檚 different than Cuomo, the governor of New York. Even though we all focus on the presidential election because of the press coverage, these smaller elections have more of an impact on us.

That鈥檚 a great point. Your book does highlight the presidential debates and the three branches of the federal government, but it also talks about the importance of local politics like mayoral races. How do you think the shooting at your school affected the politics of your community?

It鈥檚 much more political than it鈥檚 ever been before. I mean, my local sphere of friends on Facebook and Twitter is comprised of a lot of people from the Parkland area and their politics are a heck of a lot more active now 鈥� I鈥檇 say times 20 鈥� than it was pre-shooting. They have an opinion on everything. You would think we鈥檇 be galvanized behind one voice, but no, it鈥檚 all over the map.

Parents are active, the community is active, teachers are active. It鈥檚 a shame that it took such a tragic event to bring people to the political arena, but it鈥檚 nice to see people engaged and taking a stand on things.

I moderated two of the debates locally. I did the mayoral debate and I did the city commissioner debate on back-to-back days. Even though we really don鈥檛 focus on local governments at the high school level, I was able to talk to my students about the job of the city commissioner and the mayor and why they could set a curfew for you in town, they could decide what鈥檚 allowed or what鈥檚 not allowed in the city of Parkland post the Parkland massacre.

My hope, along with every other hopeful civics/government teacher, is to inspire people, at a minimum, to vote. I really think, because of the combination of all the stuff that鈥檚 happened over the last six months to a year in this country, I think we鈥檙e going to have one of the biggest turnouts in the history of politics. As a government teacher, I鈥檓 hoping that it鈥檚 the younger people that push that number up.

Even before the shooting, how did you encourage your students to become involved politically even if they weren鈥檛 old enough to vote? How did Emma 骋辞苍锄谩濒别锄, David Hogg and the other student activists use your lessons in their advocacy?聽

We have a lot of Socratic discussion in class. I try to bring up a lot of topics that are difficult to talk about and to be an unbiased moderator. We were talking about Black Lives Matter in my class since its inception. I think a combination of bringing up conversations about topics that are controversial and also really explaining how things work legitimately. Not just just teaching 鈥楾his is how a bill becomes a law.鈥� No, break down and really talk to them about how interest groups work and why they鈥檙e motivated to do what they鈥檙e doing.

If you would have asked me on Feb. 13 to pick out six kids that are going to be political by the end of this year and might run for office in the future, David and Emma would have been at the top of the list because of the way they participated in class. David sat in the front seat in my class and when lectures were over, the other kids almost started to begrudge him a bit because we鈥檇 be done and they鈥檇 want to talk to their buddies or play on their phones. But then David would raise his hand and ask a great question which would get me talking for five more minutes. I know David is on the record of saying he wants to run for Congress as soon as he turns 25.

I鈥檓 proud of all of them and I still talk to them occasionally. They鈥檙e living their lives and doing their thing. Some of them have drawn away from it and some of them are still out there. As the election comes up, it鈥檚 nice to see that they鈥檙e out there pushing and working for different groups. I鈥檓 hoping that one of them will become president someday soon so I can become the Secretary of Education and switch some things around in this country.

Kids in your class can get into pretty heated political debates. You鈥檙e a registered Republican teacher who helped a group of teens 鈥斅爏everal of them now prominent liberal activists 鈥斅爈aunch a campaign for heightened gun laws. How did you reckon with that personally, and what do you teach your kids about how to engage with peers who have different political opinions?聽

That鈥檚 one thing I pride myself on, for sure. In terms of social issues, I鈥檓 extremely liberal and in terms of financial issues, I鈥檓 extremely conservative. In terms of my classroom, I鈥檓 well versed on both sides of the arguments. The year after the shooting, the hardest thing was that the kids were so raw still from everything. If you bring up something like gun laws and you鈥檝e got a handful of conservative kids in there that are hunters, you鈥檙e going to have some arguments in the class because about 22 of the kids are anti-gun and might have lost a friend.

No matter what we鈥檙e talking about, whether it鈥檚 abortion or gun laws or COVID with masks or no masks, no matter what they say, I try to play devil鈥檚 advocate and play the other side and always demand civil discourse. No name-calling, no interrupting.

Most of them want to take a side, most of them want to be informed, and I think it鈥檚 incumbent on us as instructors no matter what you鈥檙e teaching, whether it鈥檚 how to write a story or how to be engaged in the political process, I want them to have the ability to formulate a side and then defend that side. It鈥檚 not about what you believe, it鈥檚 about why you believe it, and how strongly you believe it.

My favorite part of your book was the section explaining how young people can become engaged in the political process 鈥� even if they aren鈥檛 old enough to vote. Why do you believe that this message is important?

I think it鈥檚 important because once it becomes ingrained as the norm for them, so if they start at 6 or 8 or 10, hopefully they鈥檙e going to be engaged for the next 80 years. They can have an impact and make a difference and not accept the mantra of a lot of people who are just like 鈥業t is what it is.鈥� That is the exact opposite of my mantra in life. You need to get informed to allow yourself to become a citizen activist. That allows you to control your own destiny as opposed to allowing someone else to make decisions for you.

We also did a deep dive in the book on the history of political activism. We didn鈥檛 just do Rosa Parks. We did the Stonewall Riots. We did the American Indian Movement. We tried to touch on all of these different groups. The more that kids see other kids that look like them, whether it鈥檚 color, religion, race, gender, et cetera, influence a group of people, the more it inspires them to take charge of their life, their government.

My initial goal was to motivate people to participate. My next goal is to try to get people to hold those officials accountable. We have the keys to make politicians accountable to us and if they鈥檙e not, don鈥檛 listen to the nonsensical rhetoric, just vote them out and put someone else in there.

You often give your students a simple piece of advice: If you don鈥檛 participate, you can鈥檛 complain. But youth voter turnout has long lagged. Why is young voter turnout so low, and what needs to change?聽

First of all, hopefully this year it is going to change. Hopefully it鈥檚 going to be up a lot this year. It was a lot lower than I thought it was going to be in 2018. There鈥檚 no question that our movement made a difference but not a substantial enough difference to really matter in the long term. I was with the students that night of the 2018 election and to watch the two big Florida candidates that they backed lead early and then lose, to just watch the despair on their faces was tough to take. But I told them 鈥楻ome wasn鈥檛 built in a day, you can鈥檛 quit just because you lost an election. You鈥檝e got to keep going.鈥�

We鈥檝e just got to keep trying to inform young people that they do make a difference, they can make a difference. We鈥檙e fighting a tough battle right now because there are so many distractions for these kids. I like to think I鈥檓 pretty entertaining and, in my classroom, I can鈥檛 keep them from looking at their phones every three seconds.

I just blamed the Kardashians for like a decade. Like, why don鈥檛 you just participate? I said, 鈥楤ecause you鈥檙e too busy keeping up with the Kardashians and not paying enough attention to what鈥檚 going on in the world.鈥� I always say 鈥榃ho here knows anything that鈥檚 going on in D.C. or Tallahassee today?鈥� Outside of the odd child, nobody knows. Then I鈥檇 say 鈥榃ho knows what Kourtney Kardashian鈥檚 husband鈥檚 name is?鈥� And they鈥檙e like, 鈥極h, Scott.鈥�

I don鈥檛 try to degrade them for YouTube or the Kardashians, it鈥檚 cool that you have different interests than I have and that you enjoy watching people becoming billionaires that really don鈥檛 have much talent other than being famous. That being said, it doesn鈥檛 mean that I shouldn鈥檛 pay attention to more important things in life.

I hope that this book inspires a generation. It鈥檚 a big ask, but I hope it inspires generations of children to realize, 鈥榊a, we can determine our own destiny. Let鈥檚 figure out what鈥檚 important to us,鈥� whether its climate change or female reproductive rights or gun control, or whatever. Just figure out what you鈥檙e passionate about and try to effect change. Get in the game.

I鈥檝e been fortunate enough for all of my years that kids consistently get into the game, obviously on a grander scale with the shooting in our school. When I was standing on the side of the stage and those kids were giving the speeches on March 24 that year, there was a flood of emotions going on as you鈥檙e sitting there watching a child that you taught, that you might have had a small impact on, speaking to millions of people and doing it so eloquently. I get goosebumps just talking about it. It was truly unbelievable.

Your book focuses on kids 7 to 12 years old, who are younger than the teens you鈥檙e teaching in your classroom. Why did you decide to focus the book on younger kids?聽

There really wasn鈥檛 that much literature for kids of that age. That鈥檚 what really appealed to me about the book. It was all leading to the crescendo at the end of how we could inspire younger people to get involved. However, a lot of my friends have purchased the book and they obviously aren鈥檛 7 to 12 years old. At first they heard it was a children鈥檚 book and they thought it鈥檇 be a little 30-page whatever, but they were like, 鈥楾his is essentially a textbook.鈥�

Even though it was written for kids, a lot of people have reached out to say it brought them and their kids together to give them something to read at night and discuss, especially now that they鈥檙e at home together because of the pandemic.

When you look back at your career and your efforts to get kids engaged in the political process, what鈥檚 going to stand out the most in your mind?

Just the relationships you build with your kids. I gave it my all in explaining the nuts and bolts of government and civics. It鈥檒l be impossible not to think about these last couple of years post-shooting. I think I鈥檒l feel very fulfilled that I aided in bringing up global citizens. I know I鈥檒l be able to see my students doing great things in whatever field they choose. I know a lot of them have chosen politics because of me, and that鈥檚 awesome. So many of my kids are like, 鈥業 didn鈥檛 even think about the political process and now I鈥檓 studying political science at Florida State,鈥� or 鈥業鈥檓 going to George Washington University because I want to learn about politics.鈥�

It鈥檚 nice to have a small imprint on them, the ability to have one small piece of them in terms of making them informed citizens. It鈥檚 weird to watch what you teach put into practice right in front of your eyes. I would give it all back to have every one of those people back and to not have the event happen at our school, but at the same time you鈥檝e got to allow yourself a second to stand back with pride and say, 鈥淒amn, this is pretty cool.鈥�

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