More than 50 high schoolers hailing from five different schools — Bensalem, Bucks County Technical, Conwell-Egan, William Tennent and Neshaminy — recently participated in Sen. Frank Farry’s annual Senator for a Day mock legislature program, which helps students understand and participate in the legislative process.
The event took place at Neshaminy, Farry’s alma mater, where the teens were greeted by former Pennsylvania Gov. Mark S. Schweiker, who engaged in a thoughtful back-and-forth dialogue and talked about real-life experiences that he had in politics.
Next, the students were broken into five standing committees to debate legislation modeled after actual bills that have been introduced in the Senate of Pennsylvania. From the soda tax to lowering the legal drinking age to 18, the committees spent the day discussing — and amending — their assigned bills, all while learning how to listen to and respect others’ opinions that might be different from their own.
Preston Christie, a Neshaminy junior, said, “We got to pick people who would speak for each bill and, over time, obviously it was a little awkward at first because it’s new people that we haven’t talked to, but as we shared opinions and discussed over the arguments of what should and shouldn’t be brought to the floor, we were able to come to good conclusions and work with it, and it’s been a very fun experience so far.”
Julianna Cosenza, a Neshaminy junior, added, “We were all able to get a word in. Everyone’s been so kind and I’ve been able to just talk to people, see their point of view, and my mind’s been changed a little bit. I saw it in ways I didn’t think I was gonna see it before because I’m meeting people from different districts with different experiences, and it’s just been a great time.”
Margaret Fronheiser, a Conwell-Egan junior, shared a similar sentiment to her fellow participants: “I would say one of the great things that I learned here was being able to compromise with people who you hardly know anything about and you never met before. We were able to find similar points of view and honestly get done what we wanted to get done with the bill, despite being from very different backgrounds and having differing opinions on what we thought that the law should accomplish.”
During the discussions, Senate staff, Government Affairs professionals and lobbyists, many of whom traveled hours from Harrisburg to be part of the event, guided the students, invoking thought-provoking discussions and helping them come up with good, complete legislation.
The students then took their bills to the floor for a mock general session of the Senate, led by Farry, where 10 pieces of legislation moved out of committee and were considered by the full group of “senators.”
Respectful differences of opinion ensued during the general session. For example, after one student presented the bill to lower the legal drinking age to 18, another argued that the age should be raised. The bill’s sponsor countered that increasing the age wouldn’t stop underage drinking, and would only expand an illegal market.
“The ultimate goal is for the students to learn the legislative process and how that works, but also to work on consensus and to have civil discourse, but learn how to be agreeable and respectful of other people’s opinions,” said Farry. “I’m somebody who believes in a strong foundation of practical learning and this is very practically based. This isn’t reading from a textbook or reading from a tablet or being lectured. This is literally the students participating themselves, freethinking, working through processes to come up with a final solution. And I think it’s a great learning experience for them.”
Josh Stoner, a social studies teacher at Neshaminy, praised the Senator for a Day initiative for introducing students to the lawmaking process, which he said most citizens, regardless of age, don’t fully understand.
“I think it’s very, very helpful to see the negotiations, the compromises that have to happen,” he said. “A lot of times, we just focus on the executive branch, and that’s all we think about for government.”
Fronheiser added, “I think it will help create more informed citizens and informed voters. If you actually understand what’s going on, you’re more likely to be passionate about it and care about it.”
Samantha Bambino can be reached at sbambino@donnelly.media
