“No Kings” – High School Edition

High school students are massively under-registered to vote, which means they aren’t learning the basics of what democracy asks of us.

June 14, 2025 will be a first. It’s No Kings Day. More than 1500 events are planned across the US. People will be gathering with signs and speeches with a common message: No kings in America. The voices of everyday Americans matter. The people hold the power in a democracy.

The day is reaffirming what should be obvious: we live in a constitutional democracy, not a monarchy. We have elections. Those elections serve as the ultimate check on runaway authoritarianism. There are many elections in 2025, and there are more elections in 2026.

---

At The Civics Center, we work with high schools all over the country. So we pay attention to text books and curricular standards, and they tend to have common themes: Separation of powers. Three co-equal branches of government. Checks and balances. Term limits for Presidents. The right to vote as a bedrock of democracy. The right to speak out and the importance of civic engagement and broad participation in elections.

---

All of these are riffs on the same basic theme: No Kings.

At The Civics Center, we also pay close attention to data. So we know that current registration systems fail to reach the majority of high school students. According to Census data, in the 2024 election, only 44% of 18-year-olds were registered. The rates were much higher for voters ages 45 and above. In every midterm election in this century, fewer than 35% of 18-year-olds were registered. And that’s where we’re heading again, unless things change.

This enormous registration gap exists in large part because high school students don’t receive a firm grounding in their rights, their opportunities, what they give up if they don’t vote, and how they can make a difference if they do.

Too often, for example, students graduate from high school without registering to vote. Too often, they aren’t even asked to register or taught the mechanisms for how to register, nor what is needed to do so in their state. If they live in a state that requires registration weeks before an election, they aren’t taught about this deadline nor reminded when it is approaching. If they live in same-day registration states, they often aren’t taught that they must register in advance in order to receive election information or ballots by mail.

They are often not taught in school about the state and local offices that may appear on their ballot, how elections can give power to make critical governmental appointments, and too often, they receive no educational opportunity to analyze how public issues and elections impact their lives and communities.

All of that means that high school students too often aren’t learning the basics of what democracy asks of us to ensure it stays strong. And that means schools can do better by integrating these lessons into their classrooms.

Our most recent posts that address the challenge and the lack of funding needed to turn things around:

• Pro-democracy Americans Want to Push Back Against Authoritarianism. One Critical Tool is Being Overlooked

• We’re often asked: Where does a donation to The Civics Center go? What we’re doing right now in Pittsburgh provides the answers

• NEW 2024 YOUTH ELECTION DATA: The youngest voters were massively under-registered to vote in the 2024 election

• Who is responsible for ensuring universal voter registration?

• Preregistration is Power

With so many events planned for June 14 and attention concentrated on that day and the message of No Kings, my ask is simple:

Remember our teens, the up-and-coming voters. They attend high school every day, along with trusted friends and adults who, with plenty of guidance and support from The Civics Center, can help them realize their power and use it to build the future they want to see in their country.

High school students are massively under-registered. High schools can use graduation as a de facto deadline to inform their students about the importance of voter registration and the requirements needed to get it done so they can start exercising their rights on the day they turn 18.

It only takes one student, one educator, or one parent to decide to lead the way. I promise that if you have gotten this far, you know a high school student, educator, or parent, or or you know someone who does.

You are a trusted messenger for them.

So when you say No Kings includes Registering To Vote, you make it more likely to come true.