Educating the young UK electorate

We all know about the problem of voter apathy but I think it's rather ridiculous that there is more discussion over whether we should lower the voting age to 16 than how we should educate the young electorate. Many young adults as well as adults alike do not know much or anything at all about the voting system or what each party stands for. They don't know about their manifestos or their history. Many of my own friends had told me that in the most recent election, they knew so little about politics that they just voted for what their parent's told them to. This is infuriating to me! I'd rather people not vote at all if they don't even know what they're voting for...and I am extremely set against not voting. Blindly voting is a serious thing and should not ever be done. We need to start looking into ways we can educate young people about politics so they are better prepared for the very important task of voting when they are 18. Lowering the voting age would not be so controversial if we were more confident in our youth's voting abilities. 

And so, from the age of 16 it should be compulsory for every student to learn about Government and Politics. I believe it should be a mandatory GCSE in order to get young adults more politically involved before they vote so that by the time they do vote, they have had a few years of learning and engaging in politics. This would decrease the amount of voter apathy and increase the amount of political activity amongst the youth vote, and then ultimately the adult vote. This would change the voting game completely. There would finally be a more representative outcome of elections. 

Personally, I did not actually become engaged in politics until I chose to do Government & Politics as an A level. One cannot blame a young person for not knowing about something until they are taught it in an efficient, informative and unbiased manner. I believe from 16 and above, young adults should want to read the news and form political opinions of their own but it is getting them to want to do this that is the issue. With the push of compulsory education, we could see more young political activists helping to shape British politics as we know it. 

I wonder if this hasn't been done yet because of reasons somehow counting against it (time, effort, money, excuses etc.) or the fact that there could be a subsequent rise of  liberalism counting against the strong Tory vote. Either way, it is a shame that both the Conservatives and Labour have not been putting enough public support into ideas like this. Frankly, I'm surprised at this as it would show them to actually care about child education- which is always a winner with the crowds of course. The British education system is something I have found (since Primary school) insanely flawed and even corrupt at times- but this is another matter completely and requires deeper explanation in another blog...

I hope that this issue gains wider attention and support and an open discussion over how it will be taught and included into the curriculum is started. 


xx