By: Daniel Smith (#0054)

Attending Boys State is, without question, an extremely prestigious honor to be bestowed upon a high school student. Every student selected to come to this program was vetted by their American Legion Post, and oftentimes administrators and teachers at their school. Thus, all students here are qualified and dignified members of their communities who can contribute valuable skills to the Boys State government system.

Despite this, many students choose to run on joke platforms, banking on the “class clown” role to elevate them to a position in governance. Platforms such as these are disservices to the talent present in all Boys State members, and they put a damper on the authenticity of our system of governance here.

On the second day of our proceedings in appointing candidates for county governments, one candidate ran without a strong platform for every single position, opting for simple, unserious statements as opposed to outlining his qualifications and a true outline for what he would do in his position.

He lost every election in a landslide – until the last one.

In this election, many believed that it would be funny to elect the aforementioned joker because of his persistence – unluckily for the other candidate, who was supremely qualified for the position and clearly passionate about it. While it’s not inherently harmful to behave jokingly in the manner that this person did, things like this (and the people who egg them on) undermine the true process of governance that is fundamental to the mission of Boys State.

When students fall into these joking pursuits over launching sincere campaigns, passionate and driven candidates passionate about the post that they intend to run for lose out on an opportunity to further their campaign and get further involved in the process of governance here at Boys State. After an experience like this, a student may feel disillusioned with the entire Boys State government program, with their belief in the concept of a meritocracy being shattered by their loss. 

The Constitution, and the American system of governance that it outlines (and that we come here to immerse ourselves in), creates parameters for a Democratic society in order to create, in the words of the Preamble, “a more perfect union.”

We as Boys Staters must ask ourselves if a more perfect state is created by goofing around during elections – whether it’s the city, county or state elections.

I do recognize that not all people came for the government aspect. It wasn’t even the No. 1 reason I came here! But, I believe that everybody here should respect and put their best foot forward – which, to me, is earnest and thoughtful participation in our elections and legislation – in the process of governance here, so that we can ensure an experience that is true to the nature and spirit of government in our country.

This is not an issue that has just arisen, either. An article last year published by the Boys State Newspaper outlines this same issue. This shows that perhaps it’s simply a given for something like this to happen – give a group of teenage boys the ability to elect their own government officials and shape their legislation from the bottom up, and a few people will always act out of tune. Despite this potential inevitability, I think that reminding the entire Boys State community to restrain themselves during governmental proceedings will serve the program well. 

*Daniel’s opinion does not necessarily reflect the entirety of the New York Boys State or its staff members, delegates or stakeholders.*