On Thursday, September 25, we convened the Kids and Youth Convention in Oxford. The event attracted children, teachers and families from across Mississippi, with support and participation from educators, child serving organizations, state and local officials, and local businesses which contributed the Convention’s successful planning and execution.

In preparation for the Convention the delegates conducted classroom discussions and completed a variety of projects and exercises focused on civic engagement and the democratic process. They created platforms from their class’ position establishing what they believe are the needs to be addressed and acted upon on by policy makers.

The group of some 1000 participants at the MS Kids and Youth Convention discussed child health, poverty, early care and education, child abuse and neglect, afterschool and imprisonment. These issues were debated by delegates who then voted and ranked each, in the order of importance to them. The platforms were sent to presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain.

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