In todays modern society, it is apparent that there are inequalities in political engagement. It can be said that over the years individuals are becoming less politically engaged. Change is required. Young people need to feel empowered in order for their voices to be heard . It is important to consider why young people’s participation in voting isn’t as high as it was in the 60s and 70s.The younger generation tend to be viewed as a generation where  social media and celebrities,hold high prevalence and political interests are devalued. There tends to be this notion that younger people in particular, are politically alienated and lack apathy in political concerns(Dahl et. Al 2017). The focus should be on reengaging young people politically. Young people don’t vote because schools teach us nothing about politics(Millie Morris 2017).Growing up there was little if any form of attempt to incorporate political awareness within education. A lot of children go through education without being politically informed. More emphasis needs to be placed on making sure young people are aware of what is going on politically as this will ensure they make an informed decision when voting(Millie Morris 2017).

There have been numerous elections in the UK, such as the EU Referendum and the general election. Since I have been legally able to vote I have partaken in the 2017 general election. I, like a lot of my peers lacked knowledge about poltical circumstances at the time to make an informed decision. However, it was important to me to understand what I was voting for so I could vote correctly, hence why I took it upon myself to find out more about what was happening politically. The lack of understanding what your voting for is frustrating in itself, so why vote?

 

Despite this young people still voted.

Figure 1

Figure 1 shows the vote participation by age group from 1965 up until the 2016 EU referendum. The graph suggests that young people’s participation in the 2017 vote is significantly higher than in past years(Burn-Murdoch 2017). We can see that the gap between young voters and older voters has levelled out .Young peoples increased involvement in voting can be explained through this idea of ‘youth quake'(Sloam 2017).Whereby,young people are beginning to become reengaged, more politically interested and ready to make a difference(Sloam 2017). Moreover, this notion that young people alienated  may not be true as  social provides numerous ways of which young people can become more politically involved. However, it can be argued that young people are isolated,as politicians aren’t necessarily relatable(Parkinson 2016). (Picketty 2014)There are a lots of inequalities amongst different age groups; and young people are untrusting of politicians(Stoker 2006). Young people need to be able to identify with them if they are going to feel comfortable to have a say.

Figure 2,shows that young people have a higher social media usage than older people. From the table we can see that 72% of those aged 16-22 use YouTube as oppose to 32% of those aged 34 -39.

 

Social media is heavily used by young people and others to indulge in less trivial matters like celebrity culture. Figure 2, emphasises that social media is already widely used amongst young people, so why not use it purposefully? It can serve a more substantial service in helping young people to become more politically educated. For instance, social media can be utilized as a platform for those embedded deeply in the poltical field, such as chancellors or activists to reach out to people . Social medias influence on young individuals is evident in statistics taken from 18-24 yrs, which show suggest that social media is replacing tv as the main news source(Wakefield 2016). As well as reports from 2018 which show that there have been over 74,000 new consumers in numerous countries which include the UK.

 

Young people’s opinions  are important in prospects for the future as any political decisions will affect them more so directly since they are the voice of the future. Therefore political interest should be encouraged more towards them. In some places lowering the legal age to vote has proved to be effective, this could prove useful as a resolution to improving young people’s political awareness(Parkinson 2016). They would be exposed to voting earlier so it would increase their likelihood of becoming more aware of political matters sooner.

 

In order for there to be improvement in young peoples political awareness we must tackle the following question:

Why aren’t young people being made more politically aware in key institutions such as schools?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bibliography

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Dahl, V.,Amnå, E.,Banaji, S.,Landberg, M.,Šerek, J.,&Ribeiro,N.,2017.Apathy or alienation? Political passivity among youths across eight European Union countries.Volume 15, no 3.,pp.284-301

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Parkinson.,H,J.,2016.Young people are so bad at voting – I’m disappointed in my peers[Online]Available at:https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jun/28/young-people-bad-voting-millennials-eu-vote-politics[Accessed on:15 February 2019]

Burn-Murdoch, J.,2017.Youth turnout at general election highest in 25 years, data show.[online]Available at:https://www.ft.com/content/6734cdde-550b-11e7-9fed-c19e2700005f[Accessed on:15 February 2019]

Sloam.,J., 2017.Youth Quake: Young people and the 2017 general election.[online]Available at:http://www.if.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Youth-Quake_Final.pdf[Accessed on:15 February 2019]

Piketty,T., 2014.Capital in the 21st Century.[online]Available at:https://dowbor.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/14Thomas-Piketty.pdf[Accessed on:15 February 2019]

Stoker, G. (2006) Explaining Political Disenchantment: Finding Pathways to Democratic Renewal in The Political Quarterly, volume 77, no. 2, pp. 184-194