WASHINGTON – The Heritage Foundation today released a new video series called “PolicyLAB,” which uses interesting experiments and scientific concepts to help America’s youth get a better understanding for current policy questions our country is facing.
Each video uses a classroom-style demonstration, commentary from a world-class Heritage expert, and humor, to share basic principles of conservative public policy.
The “PolicyLAB” series tackles three issues confronting America: the gig economy, school choice, and asylum reform. The videos were produced by Mark Guiney, a multimedia producer at The Heritage Foundation who was previously a middle-school teacher.
Rob Bluey, Heritage vice president of communications and executive editor of The Daily Signal, praised the organization’s multimedia team for thinking creatively and developing an innovate approach to communicating policy ideas.
“Who says public policy should only be for adults? More importantly, who says you can’t have fun when talking about politics and policy? With this series, our outstanding team, led by multimedia producer Mark Guiney, has provided a fun and engaging platform for America’s youth to learn more about conservative policy solutions while having a good time doing so. And I’m sure many of their parents will enjoy these videos, too. Our children are the future—and it’s important that we think about them amidst the great debates of our time.”
A description of each “PolicyLAB” video is below. All of them are available at heritage.org/policylab.
Gig Economy
Since 1973, the game Perfection has been stressing out kids as they race to beat the clock before the game pops pieces everywhere. In this episode of “PolicyLAB,” our test subjects relive that stress, but with a twist. What if some of the game’s pieces have been replaced with others that don’t fit the board? This tricky situation illustrates why American workers should be allowed to find jobs that fit their individual situation. Rachel Greszler, a research fellow in Heritage’s Grover M. Hermann Center for the Federal Budget, explains why efforts to stop the spread of gig work and independent contracting are misguided, and will only hurt American workers. Click here to watch.
Education Choice
In this episode of “PolicyLAB,” our test subjects are given some simple, everyday tasks. But as always, there’s a twist! Our volunteers can only use the tools closest to them to complete their task. They quickly find out that a plastic fork is probably not the best tool for cracking open a walnut. Just as our test subjects are frustrated by this silly rule, many parents are frustrated by similar silliness from public school district regulations. These rules only permit students to attend schools closest to them, even if those schools might not be the best for them. Lindsey Burke, director of Heritage’s Center for Education Policy and Mark A. Kolokotrones fellow in education, stops by to explain why school choice is the best solution to our public education crisis. Click here to watch.
Asylum Reform
Is it a spinning top? A gyroscope? A whirligig? Something else? In this episode of “PolicyLAB,” test subjects are tasked with assembling a mysterious device called a Stirling engine, an early alternative to the steam engine. Like so many things that made America great, the Stirling engine was imported to the United States from Scotland. In other words, it’s an immigrant. Immigration is a key component of the American story, and it’s essential that we deal well with the most vulnerable of immigrants: asylum seekers. Heritage senior advisor Mike Howell joins us to explain what we can do to fix our broken asylum and immigration system. Click here to watch.
