Summer camp usually means hiking and swimming, not legislative hearings and political debates.
Five local students got a little of both at the YMCA Youth Conference on National Affairs in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina this month
Greg MacPhee, 18, of North Andover said the 600 students who gathered at the weeklong conference are proof that the stereotype of the apathetic teenager isn't completely true.
"I think older people don't give us much of a chance," MacPhee said.
"Politicians need to realize that young people do vote and make a difference. And young people need to realize that politics isn't boring or unimportant," he said.
MacPhee said part of the problem is that politicians focus on topics that only apply to the older generation, such as Social Security and Medicare, and they don't focus on issues that would be important to his peers. The national conference allows students to give their own ideas of which topics are most important.
Every student proposed a bill that went through three committees and was ranked based on criteria such as national importance and debatability. Those bills were whittled down by the general assembly to eight that were debated in front of the whole conference.
A bill to allow gay adoption and a proposal to withdraw from Iraq were two that made it into the final group.
Twenty students from Massachusetts were chosen to attend the conference, including Chris Newsome and Matt Dowgiallo of Andover, Paul DiBlasi of North Andover and Jonathan Mojica of Lawrence. They and MacPhee were chosen because of their involvement with the state's Youth in Government program through the YMCA. For that program, students gather at the Statehouse in April to hold a mock legislative session and mock trial.
Mojica, 18, said his involvement with Youth in Government has sparked an interest in politics. He likes the passionate speeches and debates that can inspire an audience. He said the conference allowed people from all over to meet, get to know each other and engage in some heavy discussions in a short time span.
"It's the whole idea of being able to disagree with someone so passionately and then you can sit on steps and share an ice cream after," Mojica said.
Newsome, 17, said he was skeptical at first, thinking the week might be full of nerdy students who only wanted to talk about government and history. He said it was much more fun with that, with a bunch of people just interested in meeting each other and talking, whether it was about current affairs or life back home.
He said the best part was bringing so many ideas and viewpoints together.
"Politics can make the world a better place," Newsome said. "I really like hearing new viewpoints and opposing viewpoints. I like someone to challenge what I believe."
