British Politics with all its historical developments and cultural heritage seems to fall short when it comes to attracting youth to get involved with politics. So what is going wrong?
I find it fustrating when I read in the newspapers or hear on the radio the government is setting up a new "study group" or it is "commissioning a report" in an attempt to resolve the problem -when instead the government needs to re-engage with the next generation of youth and understand what the youth want from government. The only way to do this, in my eyes, is by politicians giving the young the opportunity to participate in debates and listen to the youth on issues that matter to them.
In my opinion the government could do a number of basic measures to better educate the youth in politics:
1. Introduce a compulsory unit at secondary school and at sixth form college on UK Parliament. By educating people about parliament and politics at an early stage will at least
2. Provide educational materials (booklets, pamplets, information packs) on Parliament and politics for libraries to put on the front desks.
3. A new youth website - the current parliament website is so complicate to use it is more a puzzle than a resource. A new website with a fun initiative for young children, something that is engaging and interactive with chat room facilites, blogs, videos and games. (Get the youth to design the website - it's being democratic!)
4. Better access to parliament for younger people - the difficulty in trying to get access to parliament is an experience! Rather than just having tours with people pointing at statues and empty rooms there needs to be increased interactive activities that youth can get involved in. So a new chamber could be developed within parliament for precisely that reason - giving the youth a first hand opportunity to get involved in politics.
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