hen I heard about the movement by high school students in New Hampshire to become a force in the upcoming presidential primary - and drag some adults along with them - it set me to thinking about a smaller vote I witnessed recently.
It took place in Nottingham, where voters from Deerfield and Nottingham showed up to vote on the budget for a newly formed school district. The money was to be used to look into building a joint high school for the towns.
The vote went decidedly against the very notion of a district. No money was approved, educators from outside the district were not allowed to speak at the meeting, it was even voted that should someone step forward and donate money for the study, it could not be accepted.
News accounts the next day said Nottingham had killed the plan. They were wrong. What happened was voters who should have showed up to vote for the district stayed home. Hundreds of people in Deerfield, which is rapidly running out of places to send its students to high school, had voted earlier in favor of forming the district. Only about 100 Deerfield voters showed up for the subsequent vote in Nottingham. Knowing that Nottingham had approved its participation in the district by only one vote, you'd think the Deerfield folks would have turned out in force. Many folks I know in Nottingham who support the idea of a joint high school also stayed away.
Instead, a band of about 300 opponents - organized, vocal and, on this day, smarter than everybody else - turned out and killed the budget. What crippled the effort to build a high school was apathy on the part of its backers.
I relate this story because it is symptomatic of a pox on our democracy: Too many people are too lazy or uncaring to get out and vote.
Which brings me back to the real point of this column: There's a group of high school kids in New Hampshire trying to teach adults something. We ought to listen.
They call themselves, ''Democracy in Practice: New Hampshire Youth Voter Alliance.''
Their mission, according to Stuart Weeks, an adviser to the group who strikes me as subtle but resolute in his backing of its efforts, is to get youngsters to register and vote and to ''inspire adults to renew their commitment to our participatory democracy.''
They plan to do it by taking a bite right out of the apple that is the first-in-the-nation presidential primary.
It has been a 1 1/2-year process, thus far, that has seen a core group of about 18 Contoocook Valley Regional High School students expand statewide, adding nine regional coordinators and coordinators in about three-quarters of the high schools in the state.
Now they've got big ideas and two big events on their agenda.
''They've put their hearts and souls into this ... and they surprised a lot of adults,'' says Weeks.
Only about one in five Americans from 18 to 24 votes these days. Adults vote at just over double that rate - still pathetic. Yet so many people complain they want a voice. The students are trying to give them one by not only running a registration drive, but also looking to frame the debate during the primary.
They've called a summit - expecting 200-300 students - for Nov. 2 at the State House and Legislative Office Building in Concord. It will open at 9 a.m. with a call to participate in democracy.
Then they'll try to produce a profile of the ideal candidate for the new millennium - a nonpartisan task that asks what the essential qualities are in who will lead America in the early days of the next century.
They'll ask the presidential candidates to form a compact with youth. And then they'll produce a list of potential questions they want the candidates to address at their next big event: the Presidential Candidates Youth Forum on Jan. 8 at Saint Anselm College.
They are being joined in this effort by the National Association of Secretaries of State (these folks know how bad the voting effort is); the New Hampshire Republican and Democratic parties; the Library and Archives of New Hampshire's Political Tradition; and the Close-Up Foundation of Washington.
The plan is for each candidate (it is safe to assume that Democrats and Republicans will appear separately) to get about half an hour to answer 8-12 questions.
There will be a lot of pressure on candidates to appear at various forums, debates and dog-and-pony shows as the crucible that is the primary heats up.
But lo be the candidate who turns down the kids.
''The candidates have been invited. We're fully expecting them to show up,'' says Weeks.
These guys - and it's an all-guy race now - have mouthed the platitudes of good education and inspiring our youth. Now it's time to stop talking and show the kids some support by appearing at their forum.
Appear because you truly care about America's youth. Appear because your aides tell you it is a photo op not to be missed.
Fail to appear and you will be ignoring a group that is turning itself into a force to be reckoned with - offering up cogent questions and registering (this will catch their eye) thousands of new voters, young and old, in a state where a few thousand votes in a primary can make or break a candidate.
''We're going to make our voices heard, we're going to register youths all over the state, but we're also going to inspire the adults,'' says Weeks.
Pay attention to these kids, candidates. They are paying attention to you and the race you are running.
Royal Ford is a member of the Globe Staff. His e-mail address is ford@globe.com
