Students in Laura Laurson’s Advanced Placement United States Government and Politics class are learning that writing a bill is only the beginning.
Through a legislative simulation created to mirror the House of Representatives, students are stepping into the roles of lawmakers by working in groups to draft legislation, defend their ideas, answer difficult questions, and face the possibility that their bill might not pass.
Much like in the actual House of Representatives, the class elected students to leadership positions, including Speaker of the House, to bring structure to the group as they work together to create legislation.
According to Larson, the project brings together the curriculum students studied and applies it to reality.
“There are two goals of the project,” said Larson. “One, it’s part of the AP curriculum that we have to do a project, and two — and most importantly — it allows the students to apply the information they have learned in class to a real-world experience.”
Larson explained that this project provides students with the opportunity to write legislation they feel would be impactful while expressing themselves through the issues they care about.
“Each year the bills always surprise me because I get to learn a lot about people and their passions that I might not have known,” Larson said. “This project really allows the students to choose something meaningful to them instead of my assigning a topic.”
After drafting their bills, students must do more than simply present their ideas. They have to defend their proposals, respond to classmates’ concerns, and consider whether their legislation would actually work in practice. Larson believes this questioning process helps students build communication and critical-thinking skills.
“Presentations with question-and-answer portions are important because the process teaches the students how to defend their arguments, really listen to the questions they are being asked, and in some cases also create some lightbulb moments,” explained Larson.
Senior Michael Fehring, who was elected Speaker of the House for the simulation, said the role gave him a new perspective.
“As Speaker of the House, it is my job to facilitate discussion and maintain a level of decorum within said discussion,” explained Fehring. “This has made me sympathize with Congressmen much more and helped me view a lack of decorum as simply something that happens rather than a failure.”
In addition to maintaining order, Fehring observed how difficult it can be for lawmakers to create legislation that is both well-intentioned and viable. He believes the questioning component provides an opportunity to learn how Congress determines effective legislation and identifies weaknesses.
“My fellow congressmen have generally created well-meaning legislation with many unfortunately glaring loopholes,” said Fehring. “This provides us with a greater understanding of the legislative processes, trials, and tribulations so we understand how our republic operates.”
He believes that he and many of his peers gained a realistic understanding of how difficult governing and collaboration can be.
One group, led by student Iriza Katsuya, proposed legislation to amend the National Minimum Drinking Age Act to change the drinking age from 21 to 18, which they viewed as unequal treatment of legal adults.
“We are trying to solve the issue of underage drinking and the unfair treatment of 18-20-year-olds,” Katsuya said. “However, if an 18-year-old is considered an adult with the legal right to vote, marry, enlist in the military, and sign a binding contract all without parental consent, they should also be allowed to drink.”
Katsuya explained that her group approached the weighty project by dividing the legislation into sections and assigning each member specific responsibilities. They split the writing of the bill by section, and each member did two sections.
Katsuya described this process as incredibly motivating because she wanted to provide accurate data and information to convince her peers and create a true impact. Ultimately, she felt that this was eye-opening to the amount of work Congress needs to put into a single legislative bill for it to be passed. She said the experience taught her that strong legislation requires early preparation, thorough research, and an understanding of the arguments that may be raised against it.
“I’ve learned exactly how much research congresspeople have to put into their bills and how people might write a bill to go to Congress,” said Katsuya.
Her advice for next year’s students?
“Start early and make sure you thoroughly research all the arguments so that you can put everything in your bill and not find out stuff you didn’t add or should have added when doing your presentation,” Katsuya explained.
As this project continues, students will vote and continue to present their legislation to their classmates to determine which proposal would pass this simulated Congress.
