“Oh, I don’t do politics.”
This was my go-to refrain for so many years whenever the topic arose. Even though I was registered and first voted at the age of eighteen, it’s only in recent years that I’ve been open to discussing politics with my peers. If it was ever brought up, I would dismiss the conversation as something I just didn’t know about enough to join in. If the news came on after a programme I was watching, I’d skip the channel. And if people asked me my opinion of a politician, I’d barely know enough to say which political party they belonged to, let alone my own thoughts on them.
“Think what our government might look like today if more young people felt confident enough to put their check in the box.”
In the General Election 2017, 59% of young people turned out to vote-which is one of the best youth turnouts in recent years, but is still disappointingly low, especially considering that a higher youth turnout could have significantly changed the way the vote swung. In fact, YouGov reports that for every 10 years older a voter is, their chance of voting for the Conservatives increases by around nine points, and the chance of them voting Labour decreases by nine points. Think what our government might look like today if more young people felt confident enough to put their check in the box.
But is it the fault of the young that only just over half of them voted? Or are they passively discouraged from voting in general elections? Do young people not care about what happens to them and their country, or do they feel that they simply don’t know enough about politics to make a decision?
Politics was never something discussed with us at school. The closest we came to politics was a class trip to the Houses of Parliament to look at the pretty ceilings and statues of Winston Churchill. I didn’t know how the Cabinet worked and what role MPs had in representing their community’s voices. I never knew what a hung parliament was and what it meant for passing laws. I didn’t know how exactly my vote would go towards making a difference towards which government would be in power. And if I’m totally honest? I’m still not 100% on all these things, and more.
“We are expected to feel confident in making a political decision based on very little information.”
I’m not alone. As a 25-year-old woman in 2017, I still feel that I am unqualified to talk about politics with any kind of confidence, and so do many of my peers. There are a large number of things that I care a great deal about, but when I talk about these things with others I very often feel like I’m only just keeping my head above water.
Many people will avoid the conversation to not appear unintelligent, and inadvertently undermine the values and causes that they care so much about. I voice my opinions about saving the NHS, supporting the working class, increasing rights for the LGBTQ+, BAME and disabled communities… but when I can’t give a detailed way that these values can be enacted in government, I feel that I’ve failed.
Mainstream media often bemoans the apathy of the young, and yet we are expected to feel confident in making a political decision based on very little information-often no formal education, but scraps from biased news reporting and the occasional ranty Facebook post from a questionably aligned distant relative.
This past election, I made a point of discussing politics with those around me as much as I could, despite the persisting feeling of inadequacy. I think it’s incredibly important, especially for young people, to talk to each other about the things they care about and want to see happen in their country. The votes this time around were incredibly close, with the closest majority a mere two votes-so people everywhere need to know that their vote really does count.
“If we cannot rely on the education system to teach us about politics, we’re going to have to do it for ourselves.”
With the election over, it would be easy to go back to ‘not doing politics’. Despite a lack of education on how the government is made and run, it’s important for people to stay engaged and learn as much as they can through viable news sources and discussion with their peer groups. If we cannot rely on the education system to teach us about politics, we’re going to have to do it for ourselves-and use what we’ve learnt to help correct this oversight for the next generation.
