Youth voter apathy or entitlement?

THE EDITOR, Madam:

The lead story in The Gleaner of September 1, titled – ‘Young Voters Feel Unheard’ – confirms that there is a general sense of entitlement among the majority of our young people, especially as it relates to the offerings of our land. They are not inclined to get involved in national elections.

The excuse proffered by the group of 16 young professionals – some of “the best and brightest minds in the country”– was, essentially, that they felt they were being dissed by the system. Among other things, they felt that their vote didn’t count, that Government did not appreciate their educational pursuits and was not honouring its contract with them to facilitate them getting “land, car, house, education, your own place, etc.” and. Most astounding, they felt that they were not being properly engaged – government messaging strategy was inadequate – for example, the benefits from crime reduction and student loan guarantee removal had not been explained to them!

There was this young caller to RJR’s Beyond the Headlines, who felt that it was too difficult to go and stand in a line to vote. One should be able to do so online.

These youngsters apparently never learnt that the right to vote came at a high cost, including lives and should not be so flippantly dismissed.

Having a problem with the two major political parties or seeing no difference between them is no justification for staying away. The naysayers can all go out and vote for the third parties and independents who have been trying to get a foot in the Parliament for decades. And where there is no option for any of these on their respective ballots, they can make a statement by spoiling a vote and sending a message that “Look … I really wanted to participate but can find no one for whom to vote”.

Our young people should be prepared to make the effort to show up and be counted. Continued abdication of this responsibility will ultimately lead to anarchy…Haitian style. The Ministry of Education and Youth must act to ensure that the next generation of voters – the current primary and prep school populations – are exposed to a comprehensive course in Civics as a part of the curriculum.

This will help our young citizens to appreciate how their private interest/concerns relate to the whole social/political construct.

OLIVE NELSON