Public Advocacy

We, as every day citizens experience public advocacy, whether we are aware of it or not. In the Pearson Online Textbook, public advocacy is defined as the act of speaking out in support of or in opposition to a particular way of dealing with our communal needs and goals. Anyone can be a public advocate. By being a public advocate, one can attend the public meetings of local boards, county commissions, state legislative committees, or Congressional committees.

One personal example where I served as a public advocate was at a school board meeting my sophomore year of High School. The school board was discussing whether or not we should get a turf field. So, some of us players went to this meetings in hopes to persuade the school board to get turf. I spoke up at this meeting by saying, "It's very annoying and embarrassing that we are the only school in Delco that does not have a turf facility, while some schools have one turf field and others have multiple turf fields." This is just one example of public advocacy that I have endured, and I'm sure like other citizens it is just one of many examples of public advocacy that I have taken place in.