We all realised that the first BNP appearance on Question Time would be controversial to say the least, but when your whole Facebook thread is filled with witty remarks and academic debate it does come as somewhat of a surprise. My list of friends on Facebook is largely made up of young people between the age of 16 and 21. People who are considered to have little interest in politics. It became apparent to me between 10.35pm and 11.35pm on 23rd October, that there can be very little basis in this argument! Here is just a few comments that caught my eye:
"Nick Griffin - "I was never convicted for holocaust denial" ... :/" - Bob Bamber.
"and apparently the BNP is all about preserving the rights of the Irish people in England... Celts are the indigenous people, silly..." - James Flemming.
"why are people applauding his anti-islamic statements?!" - Mark Allaway.
"Hes a racist yes, but its freedom of speech yes. So let him say his piece, coz hes only gonna mess it up and no-one is really listening to him anyway!" - Lawrence Bolton.
Since the broadcast of this episode of Question Time I personally have never seen such a public interest in Politics. The accumulative IQ of Facebook users in Britain could have tripled in those two hours and I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest. The torrents of updates and the conversing of people who rarely communicate, exchanging their thoughts and opinions was immense. From this we can surely conclude that politics is incredibly important to young people and they recognise that politics is extremely interesting, disproving the bogus idea that young people aren't involved in politics.
In David Marsh, Therese O'Toole and Su Jones', 'Young People and Politics in the UK: Apathy or Alienation?' it is highlighted that Young people in the UK tend to be seen as 'politically apathetic free-riders, taking the benefits of citizenship without voting.' which has lead to a lot of hostility from older citizens towards young people about not caring for their society.
The apparent lack of outward interest in politics from young people has led to the introduction of lessons in citizenship -or PHSE- to the national curriculum. But do these lessons even cover the correct areas of citizenship? And are they needed anyway? My experience of Citizenship at school was a brief outline of the way criminals are dealt with and some aspects of human rights, namely the right to die via euthanasia. This is probably why it became the 'doss' lesson. The lesson where nobody paid any attention and would try to avoid going to at all costs -giving the impression that young people aren't interested in politics! 'I have a music lesson' was a commonly used excuse, giving those of us who actually did have a music lesson no end of hassle and questioning from teachers.
Now, I was one hell of a 'boffin/geek/dork' -whatever you want to call it- at school and I never once heard a word about real, interesting, relevant politics during citizenship. However, just because Political issues are not taught properly at school does not mean to say that young people know nothing of it! Thousands of young people are extremely open to politics and the law, whether it be human rights, financial aspects, criminal cases; they are just not given enough credit to be able to speak up about it!
Although the most recent European election had only a 40% Voter-turnout amongst young people, maybe we should stop to consider why this might be. Politicians themselves have been known to demonise, or worse patronise the youth of Britain. For example; David Cameron's 'Hug a Hoodie' Campaign in which he proposed that 'we have to show a lot more love' to Britain's so called 'hooded youth'. In fact, Cameron's controversial campaign only served to alienate the majority of the political minded British youth due to his cringeworthy attempts to get them involved in politics.
Without a doubt, Britain's youth are far more involved in politics than most would presume and if the opportunity was more readily presented maybe, just maybe, young people would be able to express their views and show their real, interesting, relevant opinions on today's politics.
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