Education is key to youth political involvement around the world

By Erin Thomas, 18

Most youth living in democratic countries have never known any different, and they often take their government for granted.

In spring 2004, 8-18 Media recently traveled to Tokyo, Japan as part of a youth media exchange with kids from the United Kingdom and Japan. In a roundtable discussion, 8-18 Media learned about the similarities and the differences of youth political engagement around the world.

Appreciation is lacking
Pryce Hadley, 14, of Marquette thinks youth only care about the government when there’s a crisis.

"[Teenagers in America] are free, so that’s all that they care about," Hadley said. "They criticize their government until something bad happens, then they have pride in their government and they want to go kill anybody that ever offended their government or their country. Then, after that happens, they hate the government again. There’s not that much respect for our government like we should have.”

James Michael, 17, of London, England said young people have some pride in Great Britain, but don’t care much about the traditional aspects.

“When the Queen had the 50th year on the throne, that shows you how much [teenagers] care because we [didn’t] even know,” Michael said. “When she had her jubilee it was a big celebration among the country, but it wasn’t that popular among young people."

Reina Misaki, 17, of Japan thinks that most kids in Japan don't appreciate their country.

“I know a lot of teenagers don’t like [the] Japanese National Anthem. They don’t like the Japanese flag,” Misaki said. “They don’t like Japanese government and what they do.”

In Northern Ireland, some kids attribute a lack of pride in their country to religious reasons.

“It depends on what community you’re from,” said Seamus MacDermott, 15, of Derry, Northern Ireland. “If you’re from the Protestant community then, yes, you have a lot of pride. If you’re from the Catholic community, then no, you don’t; you hate Northern Ireland state. I don’t really think the young people really care about the Northern Ireland government because it’s a bit of a mess. The times that it is on, it’s just basically there’s no agreement.”

Hadley believes kids feel it is hard to have respect for the government when all that is seen is the negative aspects.

“At school our government gives us little funding, hardly enough to buy paper,” Hadley said. “What does that say about our government believing in its people? If our government doesn’t have belief enough to fund our educations, do they care about our opinions? All our government has to do is give us some positive reinforcement; show us they care by listening to us.”

Kids can’t vote, but they want to be heard
Since the voting age in the United States and the United Kingdom is 18 and in Japan it is 20, the younger generation has limited ways to influence the government.

"The best way to encourage politics would be to regularly get politicians to take a sample of opinions from young people, and then put these views into policies which will help them," Michael said.

Misaki thinks global conferences for kids would increase youth participation in government.

“I’ve heard of the United Nations conference for kids participating from all over the world. I’ve also heard of conferences like this for kids to talk about peace and politics,” said Misaki. “I think chances like these will increase youth participation in politics because when a big conference is held, the media would pay attention and broadcast it. So then many people [would] know what kids want in politics.”

Education has an impact
According to the interveiwees, the more education kids have about the government, the more likely they are to be politically active. The problem is, most kids aren't learning enough.

“Anything that I’ve learned about the government is what my parents told me or we asked in history class,” MacDermott said.

In England, a government class is not required, but is offered.

“The way to change things would be to have more lessons where current issues are discussed, rather than just after-school clubs where peer pressure would discourage kids from getting involved,” Michael said.

In Japan, students are taught the basics of government from age 13 to 18 said Chihiro Nakashima,18, of Japan.

“In addition to [what we already learn], I think, they need to let us know the following two points to increase more interest in the government," Nakashima said. "One, who governs the world where one lives and we ourselves can be one of "who." Two, we should know that our country has such a system as everyone can participate in governing the country. These are two basic points but the youth are likely to forget them. I think teachers should let us know these two points at school."

In Japan, one reason students don’t appreciate the government is because there is so much pressure by the government to appreciate it, said Misaki. For example, in Japan it is mandatory to sing the national anthem in public school.

“Rather than making us sing the national anthem, I think they should give us chances to learn more about the history, tradition and culture so that we can appreciate them more naturally,” she said.

A class about a career in politics would be helpful Hadley says .

“[A class] to tell us how to become part of the government, become politicians,” Hadley said. “Most kids don’t believe they could become politicians since all you see publicly is rich aristocrats.”

Not all youth are apathetic
In contrast to the majority of kids, some are interested in the government. They take advantage of education and available information and become politically active.

“There is a university student group who is addressing other youth to vote in cities in Japan," said Misaki. "In the [train] station they pass out flyers so the youth are going to read it and then maybe encourage them to go vote.”

Some youth choose to get a hands-on education in government by joining an extracurricular activity. In the United States there are programs, such as Youth in Government, Boys State and Girls State, where students can learn about government by participating in mock legislation. The United Kingdom has similar programs.

“You join [the program] and then it explains how the government works," MacDermott said. "Then they discuss issues that they think that the government should address. It meets every three to four months and discusses local issues. [If a bill passes] it goes to the local member of parliament.”

Nakashima isn't old enough to vote yet, but she still tries to be informed.

“I personally am thankful or have appreciation for my country,” Nakashima said, "I try to read different kinds of newspapers and watch all kinds of TV so I can have different points of view [for] one issue."

If young people get involved in politics, hopefully their voices will be heard.

“We, the youth, can’t do anything directly to politics, such as voting, attending in congress,” said Misaki, “But once many kids come together there are things we can do to make politics better.”