Politics is a word which conjures up images of stuffy politicians in tweed jackets sat in London making decisions for all of us based on personal agendas. Many students feel that politics is either dull, or that there is little point in being bothered as our views are never heard.
This apathetic response to the governors of our country is worrying; students are the workers of the future, the electorate in waiting. If students are being turned off now, then turn out at future general elections will be low, and decisions that affect us as adults in “the real world” could be made by those who have been elected without a majority. Indeed, the word itself comes from the Latin “politicus”, which in turn is defined as “of the citizens or the State”. Surely this would mean that the very meaning of politics is being threatened, currently it is not engaging the citizens it seeks to protect.
Youth representation has always been a prevalent issue in politics; recently many developments have been made to guarantee young people a voice. In 1999, the Youth Parliament was set up to ensure that 11-18 year olds had a way of channelling their views on the issues that affected them. Local district councils followed suit, and now many have a youth council that runs parallel to them, with the same age range directly discussing their views on the local area and how to improve it. This appears to be effective; my comprehensive school, not usually one for politics, began setting up mock elections and ‘Politics Week’ to publicise politics as a whole. It would seem that the problem for us students is the lack of such systems. We are excluded from these youth schemes by being over 18, yet we are not given the same credence as those over 21 who are working. Instead, we rely on our own university’s societies and influences to keep us informed and publicise our voice.
Cardiff has a strong and active student body; our elections are usually well attended with many candidates trying a range of madcap ideas to enlist our votes. Having a wander around the Freshers’ Fayre last week, no-one could fail to notice the number of societies connected to political parties that we have here. All of this is a great step forward, but (and it’s an important but, all big and glittery to draw your attention to it) our student politics revolve around how our union is run, and not general political issues. We do not have a ‘tuition fee representative’ that calls for the changing of the fee system, nor do we have a ‘tax official’, advocating cheaper beer for all. It seems as though students are left in the cold when it comes to representation in the political arena. This cannot be said to be the students’ or the University’s fault, as it follows a greater trend of student apathy. I believe we should have similar representation to those aged 11-18: representatives from each university, elected by us, meet and discuss issues that affect students as young adults. We would then have a direct person in our University who we could contact to get our voice heard; it would provide a way in which politics could be made accessible.
We cannot ignore politics, but until we feel that politics is not ignoring us, it is unlikely that it will engage the student body as a whole. With 61.3% turnout at the last general election, the Government must do more to ensure that politics as a whole is something students would prefer to engage with and discuss, as opposed to chatting about the latest Hollyoaks’ episode.
