Most are too young to vote on Election Day, but that’s no impediment to the eager student delegates to Youth Legislative Assembly (YLA). As they debate and negotiate with their peers, using the same rules and propriety employed by members of the General Assembly, they remind us of the essentials of public service: to make our state a more effective and engaging place to live, work and prosper.
Organized by the Youth Advocacy & Involvement Office, this year’s 39th annual YLA will convene today, March 13 in Raleigh with 266 students from 43 North Carolina counties and 92 different schools. While some of their classmates may consider a full weekend of serious debate dull, the mock bills these leaders have drafted cover a compelling range of real-world topics.
Through committee meetings and General Sessions, participants will attempt to convince other delegates of the merits of requiring every North Carolina public school system to offer a foreign language program in primary schools; reforming the gun show loophole; requiring a minimum refundable deposit on recyclables; instituting a syringe exchange program, and other important issues.
I always look forward to seeing these diverse teens assume the responsibility of their new roles when they are sworn in as official YLA delegates, a ceremony that will again by conducted this year by Judge Vince Rozier, one of many distinguished YLA alumni. I wish this year’s group success as they use scholarship and powers of persuasion to pass their legislation, and I remind them that – whether as a future legislator, educator, professional or parent – the skills they hone today will help to shape a brighter future for us all.