Student senate scholars get lessons in democracy at Kennedy institute

Boston Globe

3 days ago

'The government makes decisions for us, and we have to evaluate those decisions to decide the government we want,' Judge Seth Aframe of the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston told the student senators. 'How can you do that if you don't even know how it functions?'
Kennedy-Breyer Civics Scholars students watched as committee vote results came in as a part of the program's Senate legislative process simulation.
Ben Pennington/for The Boston Globe
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Tuesday was the second session of the program named for the late Senator Ted Kennedy and retired Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, his friend and former staff member.
On Wednesday, the students visited the federal courthouse in South Boston to watch actual court proceedings. On Thursday, they will return for their own mock compassionate release hearing.
On Friday, they will also visit the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum for lessons on the presidency.
Civics education has always been important to Breyer, a Massachusetts resident who served on the Supreme Court from 1994 until his retirement in 2022.
'Civics gives context,' said Aframe, who helped develop the scholars program through the Breyer Community Learning Center on Courts and the Constitution Center at the federal courthouse in Boston. 'Civics gives background. Civics gives ways to evaluate good or bad, what's happening. Otherwise, you're just dropped into the middle of something, and how do you make sense of it?'
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The 27 scholars are learning how. On Tuesday, before getting down to business, they had a Zoom call with Senator Edward J. Markey and asked him questions.
Their queries ranged from his early political days, to his stance on free public transportation, to navigating a partisan Congress.
Students in the program listened as Massachusetts US Senator Ed Markey delivered remarks over video call inside the Senate chamber at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute.
Ben Pennington/for The Boston Globe
'Right now, we're in a period where a lot of [our] institutions are under attack,' he said. 'We're going to get knocked down. We're not going to get knocked out. We're going to get up, we're going to fight, and ultimately, we're going to win.'
After hearing from the senator, it was time for the students to become senators. They raised their right hands and were sworn into office. Laughter and nervous chatter filled the replica of the Senate chamber as they were assigned states and political parties. They learned the biographies of the senate roles they would play.
'I like that they don't treat us like we're kids,' said Ben Austin, 15, from Boston College High School. 'They call us senators and expect us to meet a certain standard. It feels real.'
The student senators took up the First Step Act, a bipartisan criminal justice reform law passed in 2018. The legislation, signed by President Trump, aimed to reduce recidivism and ease some of the harshest federal sentencing practices. It also provided funding for rehabilitation programs, expanded use of compassionate release, and reduced some minimum sentences.
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They debated the bill in committees, drafted and amended proposals, and held a full Senate vote. From there, they shifted into a mock House session before selecting a vice president, speaker of the House, and president to sign the bill into law.
Students applauded as University of New Hampshire law professor John Greabe, taking on the role of president during the Kennedy-Breyer Civic Scholars legislative process simulation, signed the mock bill students voted on into law.
Ben Pennington/for The Boston Globe
Some said their first day on the job challenged their long-held assumptions.
'It's definitely different from living in Massachusetts and knowing how people here think,' said Aly DePasquale, 15, of Cathedral High School, who was assigned to play the role of a Republican senator from Texas. 'But it's also a good change to see how other people from other states can think as well.'
'I feel like one of the biggest misconceptions is that teenagers and students don't know what's going on or don't have an opinion or a say,' said Evangeline Hermida, 15, of the International School of Boston. 'But we actually do. We catch up on things from school . . . from our parents. We notice how people interact and how certain conversations bring out different reactions.'
Eileen Chi, 14, of Milton Academy, said it is important for students to learn how to speak up.
'Right now, a lot of people are like, 'I can't be the one standing out,'' she said, referring to the current political environment. 'They want that sense of security with the group. The more we talk about things, the less they're stigmatized. That doesn't just apply to politics — it's everything."
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Mellon Academy,
Sadaf Tokhi can be reached at