Well, that headline clearly does not refer to you, dear reader. But it does apply to a large number of citizens of the UK, and, sadly, many young people.
I have been keeping an eye – in an encouraging way – on Shout Out UK, which aims to get more young people interested in politics and political activism, by challenging them with news and ideas from their peers. It is strictly non-partisan. Shout Out offers a platform to young writers and filmmakers, as well as providing educational materials that can be used in schools.
If you work with young people you might want to share their latest video.
Shout Out UK describes themselves thus:
Shout Out UK is a multi-award winning independent news network that, via journalism, film, events and education, connects the largest network of intelligent, adventurous and career driven young people.
You see what Shout Out UK has been up to recently here.
* Mary Reid is a contributing editor on Lib Dem Voice. She was a councillor in Kingston upon Thames, where she is still very active with the local party, and is the Hon President of Kingston Lib Dems.
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7 Comments
Mary, good to see this, yes, indeed.
I grew up eighties era as a teenager,seventies as a tint tot onwards, and was keen on politics.We had John Cravens Newsround, but it did not really have anything in it one could call politics , not the party sort at all !I do hope kids today can get more of it .Mine was an interest that just seemed to happen.
I was about seven or eight years old and stayed up to watch the resignation speech of Richard Nixon! Mind you, I was in love with Marilyn Monroe even younger than that so it was not all politics !
I do not know if people hate politics , or just are not interested , and if that is due to education , background or exposure and coverage.I do not judge them , and welcome this article thus.
Unlike so many political , people ,I like ,I have nearly no interest in sport , and I was over exposed to sport from a young age ! I do not think any less of them.Just could not and cannot really share in it .There was a time when Borg was around , and Yvonne Cawley, I was keen on tennis.But I was a kid then , too,and it did not last fully.But politics and my fascination for it did . And for Marilyn Monroe !
P.S. The early sentence should read “tiny tot “, not a “tint tot” !
Thanks for this Mary.
Trust, and having a politician that sticks with their word, is the key.
Uni students learned that cold hard lesson in 2010. I have one simple test.
Which politician would you trust with your house keys?
My list of politico trustees, are Mahiri Black, and Denis Skinner.
You make your own list?
It is not the Politics I hate it is the modus operandi of a lot of politicians. For someone like me who has been active in Politics since the early seventies I see a lot has changed in the Intervening years.
Politicians with few exceptions have few or no core beliefs. Their only purpose is a race for power at all costs. A lot are just nasty cut throat creatures with no regard for their country or respect for their fellow man. Any argument is good enough if it get the desired result. These days I switch the TV off and ignore the lot. I have a brain and I use that with a dash of common sense and the accumulated experience of a life time.
A politician writes: Politicians often come across as pompous and condescending but what people need to realise is that disengaging because of this leaves the worst sort of politician free to run things without scrutiny or opposition.
Young people were interested in politics when I was young, but of course we weren’t allowed to vote until we were 21 or older (in my case 23). We were a politically aware household (Any Questions was mandatory listening) and I did go to a Liberal meeting in 1959 and was dismayed when Harold Macmillan won the election.
The big leap for most people is going from interest in politics to activism, and taking part in the advance of the party in elections.
‘No more broken promises’. Can we really blame people for
not trusting the political class.
There has been a shift. When I was student age, you might hate the Tories or war or Socialism or the university authorities, but you didn’t hate politics. Of course, the opposite of love is not hatred, but indifference. There were always people indifferent to politics (though some still voted Labour or Tory from habit, family tradition or local identity). Hating politics indicates you could be enthused by a different kind of politics, even if the word itself has been so smeared that people don’t think of most political activities as politics at all.
In this context, I’ve found it very encouraging how many of our new members are young people who are passionate about politics.