On October 6th, PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs, in partnership with the Poynter Institute's MediaWise, hosted “Face the Facts: Election 2020 Youth Town Hall.” The virtual event was produced to engage students and first-time voters on how to be prepared and better informed ahead of the November elections. The livestream included different segments featuring young people that have been clipped for educators to use separately or all together to initiate conversations about civics, elections and the role of young voters in a democratic society. 

In this media gallery, students from different parts of the country talk straight to camera about how 2020 has acutely impacted them and their peers. Three first-time voters and one 17-year-old, Malick Mercier, Rebecca McKinney, Jackson Carter, and Cassia Ramelb, discuss with moderator Savannah Sellers their relationship to politics and the coming elections.

Use the videos, discussion questions, and activities provided to learn about the different ways Gen Z is planning to participate in the democratic process for Election 2020. 

Hosted by Amna Nawaz, senior national correspondent and primary substitute anchor for the PBS NewsHour. The event included special guests; Hari Sreenivasan, NewsHour senior correspondent and anchor for NewsHour Weekend, Savannah Sellers, NBC News and MSNBC correspondent and co-host of Stay Tuned, NBC’s twice-daily news show on Snapchat and Instagram, and Peter Hamby, host of Snapchat’s Good Luck, America.