Political Apathy Today

With only 46.3% of the population voting in this month’s midterms, political apathy remains a major issue in US and state governments (Washington Post). While every citizen 18 years old and older is granted the opportunity to vote, not everyone exercises their right. This is called political apathy.

“Political apathy is the choice by eligible citizens to not participate in the voting process,” AP Government teacher Amy Cooke said.

Political apathy has always been around in politics. According to the New York Times, voter turnout has steadily declined since the 1960s. The younger demographics are not immune to this: ages 18 to 24 have had the lowest levels of political participation and political knowledge compared to older generations.

“This year, more than most, there seems to be a lower level of awareness of what’s actually going on. In years past, several students would know the name of their Congress representative,” Cooke said. “Now, most of my students don’t.”

According to English teacher Henry Level, this new wave of indifference is largely attributed to people unaware of their power. Many don’t realize that when they vote, they’re deciding not only their future, but others’ futures as well. 

“People decide to completely pretend politics doesn’t matter if an issue doesn’t directly affect them. They forget that there’s a lot of people that those decisions do affect,” Level said. “In that way, their apathy is a privilege.”

Despite some strong emotions from Liberty students towards the harm that political apathy causes, the majority of Liberty students express a lack of interest in politics. According to a survey of 91 Liberty students, 64.8% say politics aren’t important to them.

“Common results such as taxes don’t directly influence us. We have school, we have extracurriculars, and we may have jobs, but our responsibilities don’t actively involve politics,” senior Leo Fan said.

While a majority of students are politically apathetic, Liberty’s teachers warn against that very behavior. 

“If you don’t vote, someone’s voting for you. Your inaction in terms of voter apathy is having major consequences,” US History teacher Steve Darnell said.

These consequences are reflected in America’s day to day life. According to the US census, the last presidential election had the highest voter turnout in the 21st century, yet ⅓ of US citizens didn’t vote. This number of voters could have significantly changed the results of the elections.

“It concerns me to see the amount of students who have no interest in how the world works. I’m scared for our future,” president of JSA, a political debate club at Liberty, Charlotte Ury said.

Causes of political apathy

But what is the root of this indifference towards the political scene?

“There is a disconnect between teenagers of my generation and the majority of politicians. While I’m 17 years old, most politicians are in their late 50s and 60s,” Fan said.

With so many teens today feeling unseen and unheard by the people in power, they are hesitant to put their trust and effort into the government.

“Bad, outdated policies and politicians have caused people (specifically young people) to give up hope for a better political future, especially because these people keep getting re-elected and making the same horrible decisions,” an anonymous Liberty student said.

This lack of trust causes many students to become uncaring towards politics as they don’t believe they can enact substantial change in the world. Due to this apathy, most students aren’t conscious of the effects they could be having on politics.

“Ignorance is probably the biggest issue. I think when people are not aware of what they can do personally to impact politics and what’s happening around them locally, they become apathetic to it,” social studies teacher Cameron Talley said .

However, this ignorance isn’t wholly due to indifference or an unwillingness to learn.

“It’s unfortunately really easy to pay attention to so many other things in our world. We have entertainment devices sitting in our pockets 24/7,” Level said. “While those devices could be used to engage with politics, most teenagers use them to look at cat memes or TikToks.”

Although information has never been more accessible to people, many believe that keeping updated and becoming educated on politics is not a priority. This could be due to the abundance of often conflicting information, or simply a lack of effort. Regardless, some see politics as unimportant and rarely talk about them.

“I think most people have a discomfort with politics ingrained into them. If we talk about politics and voting more, it’ll become less taboo and more normalized,” junior Shelby Mallard said .

Politics are often referred to as an uncomfortable conversation or unsuitable for the dinner table, due to the intense nature disagreements over politics tend to take. 

“Because our generation grew up with this really polarizing viewpoint of politics, I think it makes us afraid to enter the conversation,” Mallard said.

Ways to get involved

High schoolers may be too young to vote, but they have an incredible amount of potential to create change. This starts with schools properly educating their students on political topics. 

“Our schooling system’s responsibility is to prepare you to leave as educated adults. It’s a teacher’s job to make sure you have an understanding of the world around you,” Level said. “When schools fail to prepare teenagers, we fail democracy.”

Not everyone receives that kind of education, however. Only 12.1% of Liberty students believe Liberty educates them enough about politics and government. So what active steps can teens take to educate themselves on the world around them?

One of the easiest steps is something simple: having political conversations with the people around them. Political conversations allow students to not only gain awareness about topics, butchallenge their own political ideas. 

“In general, you can talk more about current events. This isn’t necessarily just national politics, but local politics as well,” Talley said.

By staying updated with political issues, students give themselves a base to form their own opinions. However, teachers, such as Level, advise students to be wary of biased news sources. Instead, they recommend students get their facts from neutral sources. 

“Sign up for a daily newsletter and engage with the news. Students need to recognize that the news isn’t a bad thing, but an informative resource,” Level said.

Political participation isn’t limited to legal adults. There are many proactive forms of civil engagement outside of voting, allowing teens to involve themselves in government.

“You can send letters, go door to door, email congresspeople, and contribute financially to a political campaign,” Cooke said. “Even simply talking to friends, family, and neighbors about politics is political participation.”

For teens not of voting age, JSA club secretary Sofia Brown encourages everyone to start their political involvement as early as possible. By taking steps ahead of time, teens gain a habit of participating in politics.

“You can actually register to vote as early as 16. Once the time to vote comes, you’re already ready!” Brown said. “Just because you live in a blue state or a red state doesn’t mean you shouldn’t vote. Your voice still matters whether or not your party wins.”

To put it simply, political involvement matters. Your vote impacts your immediate community. It impacts the taxes on your income, the conservation of the land around you, the things you are taught in school, the quality of healthcare you receive, and much more. When you vote, know that you are not voting only for yourself, but also for those around you.

Sources:

• “2020 Presidential Election” | US Census
• “Voter turnout has been declining steadily since 1960” by Robert Reinhold | New York Times
• “Where voter turnout exceed 2018 highs” by Kati Perry | Washington Post