Few students actually voice their opinion in the elections, and those who do, what do they think? Only 13% of voters from the 2014 election were between the ages of 18 and 29, according to the National Exit Poll research. Young people don’t vote as much as adults, but why is this?
Many teens feel that voting simply isn’t a civil duty. Parents and adults feel that voting is their only way to say how the government runs, and teens just don’t care. “All of the campaigns sound the same,” says freshman Emily Beeman. Many adults were raised with stress on the importance of voting, but teens these days just weren’t brought up that way. “Votes don’t matter the government can pick whoever they want,” says Beeman. Teens also believe that their vote doesn’t matter and there’s no difference between the candidates running. Teens aren’t interested in politics anymore, as the media puts importance on other things such as celebrities.
We can change the amount of students that vote by informing teens. Instead of romanticizing celebrities we could display politicians in an interesting way. “Portraying politicians in a less serious manner would help make candidates stand out,” says Beeman. Teens are more likely to vote if they know what’s going on in politics and care about it. If we start stressing the importance of politics now, perhaps future generations will have a different take on elections.