Why young people don’t talk about politics

The more we make young people feel like their opinions are invalid the more we push them into isolation

This weekend I went to the “People’s Vote” march in London, the first march I have ever attended and the first time I have ever actually felt politically involved. Being a few months short of voting, it is hard to feel like I am actually involved in the large political movements around me.

While there I met swarms of young people, the same age and some even younger than me with signs reading ‘too young to vote on an issue that will affect me’ something which resonated with me heavily. Feeling like your voice is not heard on an issue you’re passionate about is something which many young people in the UK can empathise with.

Seeing this many young people at the march made me feel a sense of empowerment, like maybe change could occur. The typical idea of young people is that they are politically disengaged and do not care about topical issues at all. The youngest bracket of voters, 18 to 24-year olds, have some of the lowest voting numbers in the UK population.

Politicians such as Corbyn push for young people to get involved, as do many regular people, saying that the younger people do need to ‘make their voices heard’ a phrase I’ve heard countless times in the past two years at my time in sixth form. ‘Oh, you don’t agree with Brexit? Go out there and make your voice heard!’ something which my politics teacher said to me just days before I attended the people’s march. So many people want the younger generation to get involved.

Much easier said than done is an understatement. People assume that young people are not educated enough to make the correct judgment on topical issues. Attending the peoples march with some of my close friends who are also just as enthusiastic about politics was such a great experience but the aftermath of walking around east London with our anti-brexit sign gathered the most infuriating response out the strangers we encountered. Some calling us ‘filthy liars’ and telling us to ‘get educated’ while others sparked up debates with us and made us pray for our country with them.

The worst of the litter was likely the Asian male at the bus station who tried to explain the concept of Brexit to us like we had no idea what it was at all. We spoke with this guy for about 20 minutes before managing to slip out of the conversation, the entire duration spent listening to him patronise us about how Brexit would benefit Asian people the most and how me and my friend, both of us Asian, should therefore support Brexit. When trying to question him about how he came to said conclusion he went with the line

“you guys are young, you wouldn’t understand”

Within the next six months I will be off to study politics and international relations at one of the top universities in the country after studying the subject at a-level. Not to say I know what I’m talking about when it comes to politics as a lot of the time many politicians don’t even know what’s going on, but I feel as if this means I’m not completely ignorant.

Not only on behalf of myself, but many other young people across the country, I think it’s safe to say that we are not stupid as a result of our age. Being young does not correlate with ignorance, something which so many people still refuse to take on board. This assumption discourages young people from getting involved with politics, thinking that it doesn’t matter if they voice their opinion as they will immediately be shut down and patronised — with people trying to educate them on topics I’m sure they’re already educated about. This leads to severe consequences with young people not involving themselves in politics and therefore falling into a spiral of disengagement.

There’s an easy solution to the issue, actually listening to young people, hearing them out and not assuming they’re stupid because of their age. It’s easy to see 18-year olds as fresh faced and too young to understand the complex nature of politics, but if 18-year olds don’t understand, and neither does our 62-year old prime minister, then who does?

Politics is almost impossible to pinpoint to one ideal, and is therefore ultimately down to opinion, different people will hold differing views, with many people disagreeing with one another. This concept is normal in a democratic society. However, disagreeing with a young person’s view, on the basis of their age and not their actual viewpoint, is harmful to society.

The more we make young people feel like their opinions are invalid the more we push them into isolation regarding their political standpoint or understanding. Once they feel isolated, they are far less likely to come forward later in life with their ideas and end up stuck in a spiral of disengagement.

As we raise a generation of disengaged young people, we see little political diversity. Is a democracy with no diversity even a democracy at all?

All that has to be done is allowing young people to have a voice, but not just a voice which shouts into the void, but one that is heard and respected rather than dismissed or shut down. The simple way to do this, is to treat young adults as they are, adults.

Assuming that someone under the age of 24 is too fresh into adulthood to actually have a political perspective is not only ignorant but also destructive. In 2017, we saw more young people vote than they did for 25 years prior with 64 per cent of registered 18–24 year old voters casting votes. Young people don’t want to be cast aside. Young people are not uneducated. Young people are just as entitled to a respected opinion on politics as anyone else.

Allow young people to have a voice is the first step in giving them an opportunity to speak up.

📝 Read this story later in Journal.

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