MOUNT VERNON — Taxation without representation was one of the reasons American colonists fought for their independence from Great Britain way back in the 1700s. Now people are chosen to represent citizens through an electoral process.
Any United States citizen 18 years of age or older has the constitutional right to vote in those elections, but traditionally young people tend not to exercise that right. On Tuesday evening a dozen Mount Vernon students met at Sips to talk about why students don’t vote, and to brainstorm ideas to encourage young citizens to do so.
Shayna Noonen said she attended the session because she likes to be involved in her community and know what she is talking about when conversing with other people.
Katie Rice feels it is necessary to be a participant in society. She is active in the political process because, she said, “I want to be proud that I’m from America, and to do nothing is selfish.”
“It’s important to be involved and give back to your community and your country,” she said.
“If young people don’t vote,” said Aubry Vonck, “ then we have old people making the decisions that affect us young people.”
The group consensus was that young people today have more enthusiasm and interest in the elections than they have had in the recent past, but the agreement was that even greater youth participation is important. The group listed some reasons why young people don’t vote:
•Many youth don’t think that what the government does affects them.
•Young people can’t relate to older candidates.
•Not really understanding how the electoral college works, they believe “my one vote won’t count or make a difference.”
•Many are unmotivated to go out and register to vote.
•School is a sort of sheltered environment, and young people lack exposure to the candidates’ views and the issues.
Because “They need to get deeper than the headlines,” as Nicole Bouchard said, the assembled students decided to work together to help energize their age-mates. They plan to organize voter registration opportunities at community events as well as at school. They said they would find ways to get concise, relevant information out to the youthful set, through one-on-one conversations, handouts and perhaps through the school newspaper. The students also intend to contact fellow students in neighboring school districts to encourage them to register and vote, too.
The session’s facilitator was Carol Rubenstein, Knox County youth outreach coordinator.
