BYTES Decides
- 20 May 2019
In the fortnight in the lead up to the recent federal election, BYTES classes undertook the hugely popular “BYTES Decides” module - a staple of the program.
Each of the 16 BYTES classes were randomly assigned a real political party for which they created an election campaign. Students researched the policies of their own and other political parties to consider what they stood for and who they could form alliances with by arranging preference swap deals as well as who may be their political opponents.
All students filled roles including being part of the leadership team (leader, deputy, whips, ministers), campaign direction, campaign marketing, creating an advertisement, billboards, posters, badges, community connections and speech writing. The MERC became filled with posters, each vying for the vote of the Year 9 cohort.
Two elections were held after the leaders gave speeches and engaged in a lively debate. Local state member Nick Staikos joined the political party in speaking to Year 9s about the importance of engaging in politics and then moderating the debate with some probing questions of the leaders who were required to be all across their parties’ policies.
Students learnt how preferential voting works as well as how the votes are counted - something a majority of Australians are not aware of.
David Machin
Bytes Co-ordinator
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