Juan Diego student attends Boys State, learns the value of citizenship

Friday, Sep. 05, 2014

Jack Maddox, a senior at Juan Diego Catholic High School, attended the American Legion Utah Boys State June 9 to June 13 at Weber State University.

The American Legion started Boys State in 1935 in response to the Hitler Youth Movement to provide educational understanding under a free society versus a totalitarian or dictator society, said Ken Hoyal, Boys State executive director. 

Boys State, which is open to boys between their junior and senior years of school, was established to supplement high school civics instruction; the curriculum exposes participants to public officials and experiences they wouldn’t normally receive. 

The week-long experience gives boys an opportunity to participate in mock elections on city, county and state levels; they elect officials to positions within the government, said Hoyal. In addition, they compete as cities to generate a sense of teamwork, and come together to elect leaders to preside over the next year’s Boys State. Also,  two participants are elected as senators to go to Washington, D.C. to represent Utah at Boy’s Nation.

When Maddox decided to attend Boys State, he already had an idea of what to expect; his older brother, Tommy Maddox, attended in 2012.

Tommy Maddox, now at the United States Military Academy at West Point, told his younger brother that he regretted not running for any offices when he attended Boys State, “so I expected a lot of competition when I ran,” said Jack Maddox. “I also expected most of the other boys to be really outgoing and confident, and they were, so I had to be the same.” 

Maddox ran for mayor, but lost, although he was elected to three other offices: state delegate, county commissioner and city attorney.  “I learned how involved the local and state forms of government are, and how they feed into the national form of government,” he said. 

Maddox also was struck by a talk by Paul Warner, magistrate judge of the U.S. District Court of Utah, who addressed Boys State participants about the values of citizenship. Warner said there seems to be a different personality between those who were born in the United States and immigrants who become legal citizens, said Maddox.  

“The judge said he wishes that those native to the United States were more like those who become citizens because the immigrants have to earn their citizenship and they have a much deeper respect and deeper love for being part of the country,” Maddox said. “He said he wished that the youth would adopt that personality.”

When Maddox compared the youth of today with those of World War II, he realized boys his age during World War II “went off to fight a war and die for this country; they were more caring, and more for what they could do for their country, rather than what’s in it for them, or what can the country do for them,” he said.  “I thought it’s a shame the way our generation is turning away from nationalism.” 

Maddox said he would encourage others to attend Boys State. “The only way to fix the mentality of handouts is to create responsible citizens and Boys State is a good place to begin; become informed individuals.”

Boys State participants are eligible to return to work as a counselor to incoming students. The Boys State Class of 2015 will assemble at Weber State University June 8-12, 2015.