X marks the spot

We blame them for the lack of job opportunities, for the state of the economy, for passing laws which are not beneficial to us.

In fact, it is fair to say that, whenever we are unhappy with something in our daily lives, we can normally find a way to trace it back to the politicians.

However, though most of us are only too happy to complain about the state of modern politics, it is shocking that we do not care enough to vote for change.

In the 2010 general election, which selected our current Government and Prime Minister, only 44 per cent of people between the ages of 18 and 24 actually turned out to vote.

This means that more than half of the young people in our country did not exercise their right to vote, and therefore, their opinions and ideas about Government policies and priorities were not registered. The reason that many young people feel like the government are “out of touch” with society nowadays is because they probably are, but they will continue to be unless young people start to shape politics and influence government.

And how can this be done without voting?

Therefore, the apathy of teenagers towards politics and voting needs to change. One proposed way to engage young people in the political system was to lower the voting age to 16.

Personally, I do not believe this would help the situation. It would make more individuals eligible to vote, but would not result in more young people joining the queues at the polling stations.

Instead, we need to examine the reasons why youths feel so little interest in government.

I can guarantee that if you asked a group of 17-year-olds why they don’t like politics, the main answer would be “It’s boring” or “Well, politicians never stick to what they say anyway, so there’s no point in voting for any of them”.

These are the sort of excuses heard in every comprehensive and college in the country.

The real problem is that most young people are not actually aware of politics.

There is no compulsory, formal political education within schools, so the only way for teenagers to get a well-informed balanced view of the situation is if they research it themselves. Encouraging individuals to take the initiative is not necessarily a bad thing, but the sad truth is, most will not bother.

One possible solution is to make politics or citizenship a compulsory part of state education.

There is an e-petition registered with the government campaigning for exactly this, which argues a vital perspective: how can young people be asked to vote when they do not know what exactly they are voting for?

Introducing a politically neutral course, which informs students about the role of government, the political system of the UK and what each of the political parties stands for would result in well informed young people who are much more engaged with current affairs, and consequently, are much more likely to vote.

I encourage all young people to take an interest in politics. It is no use complaining about the state of the country, or the area, if you do not do anything about it.

If you use your vote, then the issues and topics you care about are much more likely to be prioritised.

But if we young people continue to do nothing, then perhaps, nothing will change.