By james art HARRISONBURG, Va. (WHSV) – With just over a week left until Election Day, voters are scrambling to learn as much as they can about each candidate. However, as young voters receive a lot of information through social media, this has led to the spread of misinformation.
James Madison University staff work throughout the year to prepare students to make well-informed decisions about elections. Monica McEnerney, associate director of the James Madison Center for Civic Engagement, said it was a great experience to talk to students about what it means to be a voter.
“We had 91 classroom visits where our democracy classmates had the opportunity to go into classrooms and specifically talk about what the voting process is like,” McEnerney said. “We are non-partisan – we want to emphasize that. We are not trying to ask, stress or encourage anyone to vote a certain way.”
McEnerney said that in the age of social media, students are inundated with all kinds of misinformation.
“It’s all about getting accurate information and education. We’re here to make sure our students understand that there are different places they can look, that there’s a wide range of ideas and there are reasons why people believe what they do,” McEnerney said. “I would suggest people look at the JMU Civic. We have a solid Instagram handle and you’ll find all kinds of information.”
McEnerny suggests that students continue to educate themselves while listening to and understanding the viewpoints of others.
“It’s all about education…opening up our world and seeing things from different perspectives. We want students to see themselves as voters, see themselves as citizens and participate in activities that happen outside,” McEnerney said. “We have something called our Commons Conversations, where we invite experts in the field here at JMU to talk to us about their own commitment. I hope our Dukes will realize that they can get involved and make a difference simply by sharing their voices and being active citizens.”
After the election, McEnerney said, students should take some time to focus on their mental health. McEnerny said there will be therapy dogs on campus and activities to help students unwind after all the stress.
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