By: Maren Mahnke
Broken promises over tuition fees and a set focus on pensioners votes may be the reason why adolescents are more interested in One Direction than politics.
According to the last season of X-factor 40 million people voted for their favoured superstar–to-be, that is more people voting than in the 2010 general election.
Predominately it is thought that young people are not knowledgeable towards politics or do not endorse the idea of voting.
De Montfort University International relations and politics student Sulekho Ahmed Kadawo (20) said: “Overall I find that the general elections are very much anticipated, since all the major parties have a very similar policies proposition. Having that said, it occurs to me that that is also the main reason why young people do not vote anymore, since they get confused and then loose interest in mainstream politics.”
The result of this lack of interest resulted in an absurd outcome of a governmental survey where actor/activist Russell Brand was just 5% short off Labour Party politician Ed Miliband, when it came to who do young people want as prime minister.
Generally speaking however, young people do understand the consequences of not electing their favoured party.
Fulltime Drama teacher Kamiji Ebun-Cole (23) said: “We, as a generation, risk being misinterpreted as we automatically invite the rest of society to speak on our behalf when we choose to stay silent instead of voting.”
As a teacher it is important for Miss Ebun-Cole to ensure that the children grow up realising the importance of voting.
“It is vital for the younger generation to understand that without your voice, your opinion is more likely to be overlooked or missed entirely. Ceasing the opportunity to vote is utilising your opportunity to be heard. Why silence yourself?”
