TEENAGERS AND THE POLITICAL PROCESS
By Dr. Gail Gross
When teenagers tell me that they feel cynical about the
political process, I remind them that teenagers in our
country have always influenced and affected the political system.
It was the adolescents
and young adults in our country that protested for civil
rights in the 1960s and peacefully marched on Selma, Alabama with
Dr. Martin
Luther King. This led to a change in the law and helped
to end segregation. In 1964 it was these very same young adults who
protested for equal
voting rights, and once again changed the law. Then in
1965 teens protested for health care and once again these young activists
changed
the existing law. In 1968 teens moved to change the political
process once again and protested for fair housing, and as a result
created
new law. Finally, it was the teenage and young adult
population that felt the injustice of the Viet Nam War, and marched
on Washington.
In fact, it was those very young people who actually
became the strongest force to end the war, and the strongest force
for peace.
So why the cynicism? Well, teens are disillusioned
by the very thing their adult counterparts are: corruption
in politics, out of control spending, lobbyists, special interest
groups, favors owed and pay-offs made as well as the general
hypocrisy in the re-election process, which keeps politicians,
on both sides of the aisle, expending goods and services for
the constituency that will get them re-elected. Never mind
all
the spinning, compromises and plays for sheer unadulterated
power. It’s no wonder that some of today’s teenagers would
rather quit than fight. They drop out of the political scene,
they don’t vote, and they don’t participate in
the discussion. However, there is hope for both the system
and the
youth that are discouraged by it.
Education is the answer. School curriculums can be changed to
include classes in civics, political science, current history,
and just plain old citizenship. Clubs on and off of campus can
bring students back to the table, by investing them in the debate
as well as in the development of strategies for peaceful activism.
Mentoring and interning in both community government as well
as national government can change the lament of frustration,
by pointing out positive action for change, such as learning
about the issues and voting. Because this is a win-win approach,
it can lead to an interesting apprenticeship for teenagers, as
they transform from adolescence to responsible adulthood. This
is a constructive way to not only bring future voters into the
forum but also an interesting way to teach them how to change
the system by first understanding the system.
It was John Stewart Mill who
said, “It is important that everyone of the governed have
a voice in the government, because it can hardly be expected
that those who have no voice will not be unjustly postponed to
those who have.” Therefore, it is imperative that teenagers
become both activists as well as voters. Clearly this would give
them the potential for influence in the discussion as they could
theoretically change the course of an election. In the final
analysis, to be educated, to learn about the issues and to act
by voting can empower the teen voice and make it heard. It is
in this way that teens cannot only participate in the political
process but how they can also transform the political process.
As you can see, teens have changed the world and by exercising
their voting rights they can become a political force unto themselves.
Activism teaches that history is not what we see on the television
but rather what we do.
|
