Texting, cars, the latest fashion, the even more latest dating news. Sure, lots of teens are into it. But that’s not all they’re into these days.
Try world-wide events. Try issues that go well beyond the walls of Canton High School.
“You’d be surprised,” said Paige O’Riordan, who reintroduced a Model UN program at Canton High School last year. “We have several kids in the Model UN.”
O’Riordan and Maddie Kaplan, only freshmen at the time, began the local branch of the national program after it had lapsed at Canton High for several years. The first order of business was to grow the club.
“At first, the people who joined were our friends,” Kaplan said.
By the end of the year, about 15-20 members were involved.
The pair had a chance to gain some experience and meet regional delegates at the United Nations Association of Greater Boston’s weeklong Summer Institute at the Harvard Business School. In all, 44 middle and high school students were introduced to international relations and critical 21st century skills like negotiation, public speaking and problem-solving through the lens of Model United Nations curriculum and simulations focused on terrorism and human rights.
The workshop gave the local students some very practical skills to bring back to Canton.
“There was an introduction to the Model UN procedures and getting things done,” Kaplan said. “A lot of it was review for us.”
But not everything. For instance, the regional workshop gave some great information on researching and preparing a country’s position paper. The two Canton students were assigned to defend Russia’s stance on what’s known as “blood diamonds” at a mini-simulation as students stepped into the roles of diplomats in a United Nations committee.
It wasn’t always easy for delegates to defend a viewpoint in which they didn’t necessarily believe, but it was “a learning experience,” O’Riordan said. The Afghani diplomats and Russian diplomats really got into it.
“They got into huge arguments with us,” O’Riordan said. “We had different positions and we had to adapt to it.”
Beyond the issues, O’Riordan said it’s important to keep one’s composure. That helps at the Model UN and with her other interests, which include the Drama Club (she was in all three plays last year), the Science Club, and the literary magazine.
“It can get very emotional,” she said. “You have to distance yourself from your argument. You have to remember you are not your country.”
The students, who also learned more about parliamentary procedures and how to apply them, came out knowing quite a bit more than when they first started.
“A lot of kids had no idea,” said Kaplan, who has a keen interest in art. “By the end of the week, everyone on the outside had an understanding of things.”
She also said the workshop gave her a firmer grip on speaking.
“It’s fun to debate with people because you don’t have that much of a chance in school or other places to make that happen,” Kaplan said. “I hate public speaking. After this program, I got a lot better with it.”
Stuart Green can be reached at sgreen@wickedlocal.com.