Politics Versus Pop Idol
By: Andrea Stephenson
More young people voted for who should win Big Brother than in the 2001 General Election. The average eighteen year old can name more past Pop Idol contestants than members of the cabinet. Are young people really not interested in those who govern their lives or is politics plain unfashionable?
Let’s admit it. A lot of politics is boring. Fashion, sport and the media all hold a glamour that politics can’t easily compete with. Tony Blair’s past ambitions of becoming a rock star are not going to send youngsters flooding to the polls. Scantily clad dancing girls are not going to sex up the budget… politics isn’t about that. People in suits don’t excite youngsters as they seem to have little in common with them. Yet show teenagers a petition against animal testing and most would jump at the chance to sign it. Because, “That’s not really politics, is it?”
Politicians do not need to dredge up stories of their forgotten youth. Instead they should be concentrating on showing youngsters just how they can influence issues that matter to them through politics. CD prices, the legalisation of cannabis and saving the world all have much greater appeal than pensions and taxation. Get young people involved on the issues that concern them, and show them how much more effective their voices can be in an organisation that lays down the very laws that govern our country than a pressure group.
Democracy is a wonderful thing and affects us all. We need to prove to young people that, like them, we have strong beliefs and are not afraid to stand up for what matters. It is the duty of politicians to properly represent every member of the British public, regardless of whether they can vote yet.
Andrea is an author on a site for
Creative Writing ( http://www.Writing.Com/ )
She is 26, English and actively involved in British politics.