LET’S TALK PROTESTS!
The growth of young people becoming politically engaged is rapidly extending through political protests and social movements. The upcoming rise of technology and being able to have constant access to the news, there is now no avoiding the exposure to what happens in politics. Young people are fuelling their anger into activism and have enhanced historical momentum’s such as the Black Lives Matter Movement and combating climate change. With research showing that 70% of Gen Z are involved in either a social or political cause, we can identify that young people are becoming more inclined to be politically engaged (Cooper, 2021).
”The duty of youth is to challenge corruption” – (Kurt Cobain). This quote really resonates with me as it helps to perceive the notion that the younger generation are beginning to encourage one another to start challenging corruption, which is something you see a lot of within politics. For example, the Black Lives Matter movement clearly demonstrates the level of participation that young people are willing to engage in, in order to make a change. This can especially be seen through the use of social media. In 2013, the #BlackLivesMatter movement surfaced the internet following the murder of Trayvon Martin and by May 2020 it had reached over 8 million tweets (Bellan, 2020). However, not only did Gen Z use platforms such as Twitter and TikTok to spread awareness, but it also became a place for people to organise rallies and push for political change. Attached below is a video of a 16 year old girl who through Instagram planned a protest which ended up having a turnout of more than 15,000 supporters.
This video shows just how influential social media can be. With the growth of technology rising, social media can be a way for young people to express their political preferences in a less traditional way. For instance, instead of voting or volunteering on a political campaign, young people are creating hashtags or using platforms to share political blogs or news articles. A study in 2020 by Booth et al, did an analysis on the online political engagement of young people during Covid-19 and found that over 60% said that creating social media content helped them to feel more informed, represented and heard (Booth et al., 2020). So why is it that the voter turnout for young people is so low, but the online engagement is so high?
Are young people being heard?
In today’s society, protests have become popular with young people as they feel as though creating social movements is a way of being able to encourage political change. Take for example the EU referendum in 2016 and how the voter turnout between leave or remain revealed a significant divide between age ranges. The graph below reveals just how different it was.
With an enormous 73% of 18-24 year olds voting to remain, that didn’t stop younger voters from speaking up. I mean since you can legally join the army at 16 but can’t get a say in a vote that will be predominantly affecting your future, you’re going to want to fight back, right? Well, that’s what young people did after finding out the outcome of the EU referendum. They began protesting outside Parliament calling for the vote to be lowered and held banners such as ‘’Our future, our choice’’ and ‘’I am not British I am European’’ (Worley and Forster, 2016). Although it didn’t lower the voting age or stop the UK from leaving the EU, it did help to spread awareness and allow young people to be able to express their political views.
In recent years, young famous activists such as Greta Thunberg have further help to strengthen the political spectrum of young people creating social change. Greta Thunberg is currently a 20 year old Swedish activist who is known for challenging political leaders and educating the world on the seriousness of climate change. Starting at only 15 years old, she has created a global movement of more than 10 million people demanding action to the issues surrounding climate change (Sabherwal and Linden, 2021). But what has she done that has appealed to so many people? Below is a video that shows us the impact that Greta Thunberg has had not just on society but on young people becoming politically engaged.
‘’Be the change you wish to see in the world’’ (Mahatma Gandhi) – I’m sure everyone’s heard this saying before and, it’s true. All it takes is one person to share a news article or organise a peaceful protest which can result in spreading recognition worldwide. Young people, just like Greta Thunberg, who have created historical movements and bought communities together to fight for injustices or help to spread awareness are all part of the reason why we can finally see a change.
As discussed, the rise of social movements including protests and rallies has helped to encourage young people to become more politically involved and also speak up for injustices within society. Through social media especially, political engagement has started to become a welcoming space for young people to stay updated and get involved. We have seen the political impact that protests have had and how much they can bring people together. So why just stop here?
What can you do?
Get involved! Whether that be through starting a political protest or even just reading a blog online, political participation has many forms of involvement. I encourage young people to stand up to injustice and use their platforms to make a difference. But what do you think? Please feel free to comment and leave your thoughts!
Bibliography
BBC News (2016). EU referendum: The result in maps and charts. BBC News. [online] 24 Jun. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-36616028.
Bellan, R. (2020). Gen Z Leads The Black Lives Matter Movement, On And Off Social Media. [online] Forbes. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/rebeccabellan/2020/06/12/gen-z-leads-the-black-lives-matter-movement-on-and-off-social-media/.
Booth, R.B., Tombaugh, E., Kiesa, A., Lundberg, K. and Cohen, A. (2020). Young People Turn to Online Political Engagement During COVID-19. [online] circle.tufts.edu. Available at: https://circle.tufts.edu/latest-research/young-people-turn-online-political-engagement-during-covid-19.
Cooper, J. (2021). Unleashing the Power of Gen Z. [online] Edelman. Available at: https://www.edelman.com/insights/unleashing-power-gen-z.
Sabherwal, A. and Linden, S. van der (2021). Greta Thunberg effect: people familiar with young climate activist may be more likely to act. [online] The Conversation. Available at: https://theconversation.com/greta-thunberg-effect-people-familiar-with-young-climate-activist-may-be-more-likely-to-act-154146#:~:text=Her%20%E2%80%9Cschool%20strike%20for%20the.
Sky News (2019). The rise of Greta Thunberg explained. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itAu7Uw0sn8 [Accessed 15 Feb. 2023].
Worley, W. and Forster, K. (2016). Young people are gathering at Parliament furious at not being given the vote. [online] The Independent. Available at: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/brexit-eu-referendum-latest-protest-young-people-parliament-vote-a7101701.html.
www.goodreads.com. (n.d.). A quote by Kurt Cobain. [online] Available at: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/98393-the-duty-of-youth-is-to-challenge-corruption [Accessed 16 Feb. 2023].
YouTube (2020). Teen starts a Black Lives Matter protest and 15,000 people join her | Newsround | CBBC. [online] www.youtube.com. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uM-r40Up8A [Accessed 16 Feb. 2023].