Students at Kingswood Regional High School students participate in a WACNH lead Diplomacy Simulation on the Darfur Crisis.
The most recent (2023) survey of young Americans’ attitudes about world affairs is undoubtedly dated in these turbulent times. But the starting point is valid when it comes to what we might expect from high school participants in our Diplomacy Simulations.
The Chicago Council on Global Affairs study (Young Americans Question US Global Engagement | Chicago Council on Global Affairs) found
- While a majority of Gen Z (age 14-29 in 2026) express interest in news about US relations with other countries, they are much less likely (69%) than older generations (88-90%) -- to do so.
- Gen Z are nearly evenly divided (50%-47%) on whether it is best for the United States to take an active part in world affairs or stay out, while older generations support getting involved (64%-35%).
However, the third survey takeaway was: “Leading international cooperation on global problems is the top foreign policy priority for the youngest generation of American adults.” Older generations said their top priority was military protection of the physical security of the country.
In Diplomacy Simulations WACNH conducted in June with a class of 9th graders at Pembroke Academy and with three freshman global affairs classes at Kingswood Regional High School in Wolfeboro – a total of about 70 students – interest, enthusiasm and connection beyond the materials we provided were all rampant.
Admittedly, it took some time to get traction. The three teachers had provided introductions to the material – the Water Crisis simulation for Pembroke and the Darfur Crisis for Kingswood – and the students were supposed to have their preliminary statements ready for the first round. But, as the Chicago survey might suggest, they were slow to engage in their respective positions (one of four ‘sides’ in each case) on the first day.
But by the end of that first day, after two rounds of both team goal-setting and group negotiations, they were beginning to identify with their roles and responsibilities and thinking critically as their nations, NGOs and State Department delegations rather than as observers to the process. By the second day, after the animated conversations that had followed them out of the classroom at the end of Day 1, and even some pre-session homeroom consultations with members of their teams, they were ready to argue passionately for whichever side they had been assigned.
“So ready!” was the answer that came from one young man at the start of session two at Kingswood.
And that dynamic is what Diplomacy Simulation is all about.
Asking the teachers what they thought of the experience, all three focused on the process. How it drew out one young woman who thought she was too shy to speak “in front of people” to become the spokesperson for her team. How another young man who spoke so quietly at the start it was hard to hear his position turned into a forceful proponent for what the US State Department could bring to the water rights impasse.
Pegi Frostholm, the teacher at Pembroke, told Tim and me she was delighted with the participation and the opportunity it gave her social studies students to speak their minds rather than just repeating what they thought she wanted to hear from the lesson plan. Doug Skelley and Kim Kelliher, both teachers at Kingswood, agreed that while their kids were always looking for confirmation and reassurance, the Diplomacy Simulations brought out their competitive streaks. “They want to win,” said Skelley as he watched a team of young women representing the Sudanese Government animatedly argue their case to the African Union team.
As they filtered into the room the first day, the students were individual teenagers looking like they weren’t sure what to expect. When they returned from lunch, already gathered into their team sub-groups, they came in discussing their positions and what their next arguments should be.
It’s that secret sauce on which WACNH Diplomacy Simulations thrive, that brings us back to the same schools to repeat the process with new classes of kids. All three teachers are already planning Simulations in the next school year, possibly even one in the fall and another in the spring. “I would love to teach everything this way,” said Skelley, “But I just don’t have the bandwidth to create the same sort of in-depth materials you give us.”
It’s why WACNH secures that ‘unobtanium’ of access and classroom time in a high school social studies teacher’s curriculum. And why the most rewarding – priceless -- part is watching students embrace and internalize the role-play.
At Kingswood that people-to-people connection came solidly home when one young man came over to thank us at the end. He had me at his handshake.
- By Stephanie Seacord, WACNH Events & Education Coordinator
