Students should indulge in politics

During my own campaigns for public office, we leaned into social media as a tool to mobilize first time and young voters who found my campaign online and decided to follow it based on what they saw.

If we want to truly capture the imaginations of young people in their civic power, we need to approach them in new and relevant ways. Young people are the future that will support all the generations before them. Authentically engaging them in their civic power should never be underestimated. These voters were young and old, Muslim and immigrant, and unlikely voters who found it refreshing to see someone like me working to make my community a better place.

My campaign was predominantly built and executed by college and high school students, almost all of whom were motivated to engage in campaigning for the first time because they saw a candidate who reflected their own lived experiences. You can see my story in the PBS documentary series, And She Could Be Next , and use many of the free educational resources from that documentary to help engage your students, too.

Stay up to date on the latest blog posts, content, tools, and more from PBS Education! October 14, The Power of First Time Voters When I was running for public office, many people who voted for me found themselves voting for the first time.

Power vs. Youth and Social Media Social media is a powerful tool to spread information at massive reach, yet also has equal potential to do harm with the dissemination of misinformation.

To sum Next Post. More Posts. We will get nothing by blaming the politics or the corrupt ministers we should have to improve this dirty politics and corrupt society by improving ourselves. If the Indian politics are dirty,being the citizens o India isn't it our responsibility to clean them. The attitude o the preset youth is much different. They have got the energy to make India a super power. But there is a lack o harvesters o that energy. Major issues like poverty are let behind in the movement against corruption.

Remember that corruption is not only the problem being faced by Indians but also poverty. These problems can only be solved if an efficient prime minister is present at the center. It is left to you to choose your prime minister. So,choose a better personality who will make India a super power in the next elections. Hello Friends, I would say that the youngsters should be definitely given a chance to run the politics in the country and I am sure there is going to be a change in the method of thinking and action.

I think that the politicians these days are definitely thinking more on earning than the welfare of the public who has placed them in such a high position in the society. I think there are many things that need to be reformed in our nation including corruption, poverty etc and my perception is that only a youngster can take such bold actions to prevent and abolish them without thinking of the consequence from higher officials and big shots of the country.

With Regards, Sudhan A "The greatest achievement comes from the biggest challenges". In fact it is not youthfulness or agedness which should serve as a criteria for political activism. It is resourcefulness which enable one to contribute positively towards the problems faced by the country, which should qualify one to be politically active. Of course there is abundance of resourcefulness among our youth and there is no doubt what so ever that they should contribute towards nation building.

But again, the criteria is not youthfulness, it is resourcefulness. Thanks, With regards, C. Youngsters should come up in politics. They should have a better vision about our country and their ideas should be implemented. The spirit in them will definitely help in changing the present political structure prevailing in India. What I have noticed is that, most of the politicians have passed a certain age, now is the time for them to sit back at home and give way for the youth.

Regards Chitra "Do not give up, things might not favour you always". I always support the youngsters role in any field and the same for politics also. Youngsters are always very innovative and energetic which is the most needed criteria for development in any fields today.

Apart from these, am seeing many youngsters are taking part in many activities like organizing college level functions, heading a social service group, leading some social activity in their college days itself. The reason for every colleges are supporting these activities are the value what the students will get in these roles. Similarly, Politics also a different field where a student can participate and use the opportunity to develop themselves as a responsible citizen.

The pillars of tomorrow's nation must have some ideology about the political and economical arena which they can get from joining a political organization. Also every citizen of this nation must have the idea about the democracy that can be hardly learnt from the educations.

Collectively in my opinion, an youngster who is involving in politics in the college level itself is the complete man that a democratic society needs for the upliftment of the nation. Regards, MS Ananadam.

There must be active participation of youngsters in politics provided they are enough mature. Some criteria and rules to be set for peopels induages in active politicas. Consider politics as a full time career in early twenties is out of question, we are too occupied in studies, career, emotions that we hardly have time to think for the welfare of the country.

But, we do have time to blame our politicians, cricketers and film stars. We can watch flop movies for hours but no time for news channels. How can we best measure youth political participation and policy influence? These should be clearly documented with the results achieved. Policy briefs to provide information on key issues and how they can influence at what level and when appropriate. For example budgets cannot be influenced when they have been passed. For the past 15 years civic education has been cancelled in the majority of curricula.

The other reason is that politicians all over the world have been doing a poor job to ensure that every citizen gets a minimum standard of living and are the reflection of what greed is. Therefore, they distanced themselves from this corrupted arena. Youth and policy-making in parliaments Networks of young MPs, as well as caucuses that promote youth issues in public policy, are present in a small but growing number of parliaments. Other strategies to engage young people in parliaments Youth parliaments exist in half the countries surveyed.

Some have formal ties to the national parliament but most are coordinated by non-governmental organizations, government ministries, schools or other local authorities. In Uganda young people are encouraged to participate in politics through the policy that calls for regional representation.

All the 4 regions of Uganda have to elect a youth representative and one national female youth bringing the total to 5. Currently there are 2 female youth MPs and 3 males. The youth MPs also have a Uganda Youth Parliamentary Forum where they meet and discuss peculiar issues affecting youths and also come up with strategies to address them in the legislative process.

A lot of capacity building for the youth MPs is also done through this forum by civil society organizations and also development partners. UN Women and other development partners support mentoring programs for young people specifically to enhance their skills in leadership and understanding of politics and importance of youth participation.

Factors contributing to the above are:. An environment with:. Are youth more likely to be active in combating discrimination and gender based violence? Low inclusiveness of youth in activities revolving around them.

Insignificant provisions for inclusion at all stages of political manifestos. Not recognising that practice makes perfect. Informal group learning settings and real time activities around real situations. A long term agenda that grooms them for future roles in politics. This would give required exposure and quality experience to acquire necessary skills because every individual within any given community, is politically oriented and affected. Parliaments can set up Outreach Agendas like the U.

These is run by the Houses of Parliament targeted at youth in general to encourage them, to let them know that their voice can also be heard, to give them a chance to come in and have a say.

That's only a beginning because I await the day when we would have youth delegates sitting in Parliaments and having a say in current affairs. Social Media is the order of the day and this has its negative and positive sides. It'll be innovative and ultimately effective to have regional youth representations virtually real time. Instead of having explosive reactions to the feeling of being pushed aside or muted.

How can we support more young people who would be interested in channelling their activism through formal political institutions? Organise events and effectuate raised action points.

Organise and partly sponsor selected youth representatives who demonstrate the flair for progressive value adding political ethos. Scholarships, opportunities and grants could serve as incentive.

Organised mock Parliamentary sittings to develop the skills and flair over time so by the time they are making informed decisions. Young MPs need retreats yearly where they all go away initially as individuals then as a group where the away days would be self reflections and group reflections on how to approach issues differently.

The more often this is done as Practitioners, the better their performances as individuals or as teams. Gender equality should be a subject in schools just as religion, history or civic studies, science etc. Creating a political terrain or advocacy for an institution for young women in politics. Have a biannual program for women in politics, where women can access extra Career Development opportunities. Evaluation youth in these aspects remains reliant on opportunities given them.

Given a voice and effective inclusion, we carry out analysis of what worked and what could be done differently, then reassess for reimplementation at Enhanced levels.

Influencing Policies could be measured by sound comparisons of how it was before changes against goals achieved e. Question No. Low participation of youth in parliamentary activities stems from the fact that adult participation have continued to over shadow the youths involvement in political activities. The idea is that the adult group age group are not well catered for and no provision is made for them in the constitution of some of the countries especially within the developing countries hence despite their age they continue to jostle for political position to avoid laxity and redundancy.

It is assumed that the reason behind this ignominious behaviour is that no adequate arrangement is made by the government to cater for the elderly in the society and they have no choice than to struggle for political position where there is no age limit. Another major issue is that the adult class is insatiable with wealth because you imagine a former mayor leaving office after eight years still jostling for political position instead of sponsoring youth around him because they have the believe that the only place good money can be made without genuine struggle is in politics.

They maintain that they are more knowledgeable than the youths: and believes that their opinions is still viable than the youth without the inkling that some of them has a loose education- a system where people are said to be educated based on their informal participation in social activities without attending the four walls of educational system. Hence they get to the point of forgery of certificates to false age declaration just to be accommodated within the political class.

Therefore, attaching themselves to a prominent political figure takes them up the ladder of leadership position without a formal knowledge of what parliamentary obligations are. Question 2. On the issue of young women participation in politics, the negative approach here is the societal belief that a young woman needs is to first tend the home before getting involved in public activities.

Women who are in their child bearing age are discouraged to be active in politics because of the dangers inherent in it. They are the vulnerable members of the society and any act of violent will impede their performance because they will first remember their children and for fear of losing their lives and abandoning the children they will forever shield away from political activities. Question 3. What can parliaments, governments, political parties and civil society do to increase young women and men representation in politics.

The best attitude towards achieving active participation of young women and young men in politics is to go back to the drawing board, where the adult members of the society will leave the scene and encourage youth participation.

They should act as a backbone to structure the youths and make them function appropriately in the political arena. But before this can be achieved, the upkeep of the adult group should be enshrined in the constitution and be part of the national development plan.

For instance in some countries some of the package for adult age group is only meant for serving heads of state or retired members who have worked in the public service, what about those who have not had any form of work with either the government or in the political field? If there is provision made for such people to mortgage their future and some who had since used politics as a money making venture will shelve the idea.

However, the youth that are to be involved has to get quality education and training to understand that politics and political affairs is not a money making venture: but an avenue to serve the public for the public interest and that any legislation to be made will first address the needs and satisfaction of the public whom they are representing and not self or individual interest.

They should be accountable for their actions when in service and to always return to their communities to seek for their opinions before taking a decision in whatever parliamentary level they are in either the House of Representative or in the Senate. They should be resemblance as serious agents for positive social change before they are voted in. Take for example the case of a particular state in Nigeria my country, Akwa Ibom state, at a time a governor who is a youth and a vibrant lawyer was elected, his activity centred on liberating his people from the servitude of poverty by making the state and its local government a place to be through the provision of infrastructural facilities and good road network.

The result was that all its youths that have migrated to the urban cities in search of greener pastures started coming home to invest in one business venture or the other. As he was leaving office, he also made sure that his predecessor is also a youth like him who has been a technocrat in the banking sector.

He took up the mantle of leadership based on his accountability proficiency and because he is not vast in politics, he has an adult senior politician as a backbone hence in my opinion they are carrying the flag and making sure it is flying based on the aspiration of the other governor. If this becomes the routine in governance adults participation in politics will gradually erode and give room for youth participation.

Question 4. What are some of the most innovative alternative methods marches, sit-ins. Youth participation in politics is increasingly been the focus of advocacy in issues pertaining politics, and some of the view is that the opportunity to express themselves should be the first avenue for increased youth participation in politics.

The youth having access to social media platform is another means for expressing their political interest though sometimes this is abused but recently the outcome of responses from youths to some political decisions by the adults in leadership positions have revealed critical thinking and is very educative: hence some of the leaders have concentrated in using the social media platform to seek for positive action based plan to be adopted based on some of the responses received when issues are presented for discussion or otherwise for criticism.

It is also noteworthy to say that some members of the political class no longer shield away from the activities of the social media as it was before rather it has become the norm for them to use it to canvass for opinions and positive feedback of political squabbles that has eluded their understanding, thereby giving the youths the preamble of the ideals of politics and what is to be expected of them assuming they are in a position to serve.

Question 5. Supporting the young in activism will be necessary at this time through financial empowerment. This is because some of the youth that will express interest for running political position have remained unemployed for some time and they have no form of basic income to support themselves more or less money for running a parliamentary position.

However, if this seems to be dicey because it can be abused and money may not be accounted for, why not through selection, balloting system or direct appointment to choose a representative among the youths. For instance recently in my local government, precisely Afikpo south in Ebonyi state of Nigeria, the erstwhile House of Assembly candidate observed the interest of some of the women in the community to vie for political position went ahead to get registration forms for the women because they on their own cannot pay for the forms.

He supported their candidature and surprisingly they won in their different wards as local council members. This strategy can also be used to encourage youths to come out in their numbers to participate during parliamentary elections.

Encouraging the youths by way of team participation in every social activity- organizing a non- funding meeting, adequate support financially, morally and absolute guidance can guarantee the youths confidence towards increased participation.

Organizing a forum for discussion should not be used as a means to turn the youths or use them as thugs but a way to politically educate them to understand what politics is all about, teaching them how to serve having the public interest at heart and be responsible citizens for the sake of the growing ones.

Question 6. For instance in Africa, some group of adult politicians have adopted some youths to be their personal assistant, through that means the sincere ones coach them on how to participate in political affairs.

Some of the adult politicians send them as representatives to community meetings where they are given opportunity to speak on behalf of their master.

Some organize youth forum and make the youths present to ask questions and from there some active youths who have shown activism in one way or the other are being adopted to join political party and they are recruited as party agents, representatives, campaign officers and so forth with the aim of grooming them to be the leaders of tomorrow. I am not against the method because no matter how educated one is, there is the need to learn from the masters and the only way is to first attach oneself to one good master or the other.