DEAR STRAIGHT TALK: Sure, this election brought youth out to vote, but there is still huge apathy among the young. Most high school and college-age youth are focused on their next mocha, their next text, and looking “hot.” They are barely interested in politics. In the ‘60s and ‘70s, we knew the names of congress members and how they voted. High school and college campuses were alive with political fire. Why is this passion lacking today? Your recent column (Sept. 10) showed that even the music from the ‘60s and ‘70s still rules. I worry! Without youth’s abundant energy and free time, who will shake up society and demand needed changes? The middle-age are too busy supporting families and older folks are too tired. Without youth doing their part, we have nothing!
LA reader
Kendal, 22, Arcata, CA
The draft was why American youth in the ‘60s and ‘70s were so fired up. Without our friends taken from us, what goes on in Washington doesn’t impact us the same. That era’s political turmoil also came after fear from the anti-communist ‘50s and loss of faith in government. Today we know government isn’t for our best interests; back then, people were just coming to this realization and were enraged about it.
Ashley, 21, Auburn, CA
The problem is we are encouraged to get that mocha, send that text, wear that hot outfit. It’s how TV raised us. We are poorly informed on world affairs and don’t know what to believe. Growing up, nobody said, “Pay attention. You have the power to change the world.”
Lennon, 22, Fair Oaks, CA
The amount of media we are subjected to is confusing and distracting. Everyone is hooked to cell phones, computers, TV, video games. Commercials tell us to just worry about ourselves — but to fit into the herd as well. There is no music to inspire us, no amazing bands speaking what we feel. The ‘60s and ‘70s music is the best available. But it’s not ours! And while we like it, we need something that talks about problems we are experiencing now. We also don’t know what to trust. News is twisted three or four ways and we are skeptical of every version. The Constitution states that we, the people, are the government. Yet we have been purposefully kept at a distance as government is increasingly secretive. Young people don’t need corporate profits and payoffs to improve the world. We’d like to shut down the auto and power industries until they actually focused on green energy. We’re here, we know right from wrong, we just can’t grab the reins.
Graham, 15, Fair Oaks, CA
Yes, there is apathy, but there is passion, too. Tour any high school and see student-run speech and debate clubs, rock bands and dance teams. Apathy is a mask to fit in, passion is underneath.
DEAR LA: The panel has it right again. Can you imagine the unleashing of this ‘passion underneath’ if youth were being drafted for Iraq and Afghanistan? The draft is definitely the glaring difference between then and now. Today youth are asked for nothing, and so, in general, give nothing. The other difference is we are bombarded 24/7 with the slickest advertising for the unhealthiest products money can buy. Big Brother Media is out of control. Youth, especially, have been targeted to feel the pressure to achieve personal gratification at any cost. The economy collapsed when the free market wasn’t regulated, and so will America if non-stop advertising of unhealthy products isn’t regulated. We should be worried. When youth are not only silenced, but molded into the most depressed, obese, narcissistic, scholastically dull youth population in the developed world, I agree with you LA, we have a problem. We need to hit the media “off” button and renew the character-building values that formed this country.
By Emily, 16, Sacramento, CA on 11/12/2008
I think the world today is overwhelming. Youth consider making a difference and then think, “WOW, there is so much to do.” Plus, since the technology today is so much more advanced than it was back then, there are higher standards of excellence, more to overcome. As for just waiting for one’s next text or mocha, that’s just our way of escaping the real world for a minute. I am not saying we shouldn’t stop it, we should, but I think we have more pressure. With whatever we are dealing with, most of it has already been done before, so it’s harder to stand out.
By Laura, Fair Oaks, CA on 11/12/2008
I’d like to point out something that no one has mentioned, which is the misconception of youth’s “abundance of free time.” I personally am extremely interested in what is going on in our country and the world at large, and I care very much about politics and do my best to keep myself informed; however, I’m so overloaded with schoolwork that I can’t even begin to imagine when I’d find time to make a difference in the world around me. So much more is required of the youth of today just to have a chance at being successful. In order to have a decent job we’re all expected to go to college, which wasn’t so true in the 60’s and 70’s. As a result colleges have become harder to get into, which means that high school students have to work harder in order to stay competitive. College has also gotten more expensive, and becomes more so every year. Many college students have to work in order to get through school, and still wind up with massive loans when they graduate. When you combine a full course load with one or more jobs, many students don’t even have time to sleep, let alone be politically active. On top of all that, most of the people in my major won’t even be able to find a job in our field in today’s economy once they graduate, so the pressure to be at the top our classes is tremendous. In my experience, very often the young people who do have free time are the ones who wouldn’t have cared enough to have been politically active in our parents’ generation anyway. For those of us who do care: the passion is there, the time is not.
By Rob, Uncasville, CT on 11/14/2008
The theme of “All Play…” is close to my heart. Michael Moore observes that in Europe the government is afraid of the people because they become unruly (raise hell) when the government gets far off track. In the US, on the other hand, people have been afraid of the government…..I know well it takes organization and hard work to “take the reins” but that is what elections are about.
We just had one. Youth have handed the reins to a leader who apparently listens. Youth now needs to keep talking, shouting if necessary, so that that leader, and his leadership, do not loose sight of what youth believe important. And that leadership must remain aware and apprehensive, if not afraid (of at least losing power). Keep the pressure on….that is what the caffeine in your latte is all about: energy.
After all, it is rightly the youths world to govern/manage/cherish, no matter the mess their parents (me) have made of it. They have more time left in it. So I say go for it youth; talk to me because I am here to help, or get out of the way if that is the right thing to do.
By Janet Schwartz-Edmisten, Sacramento CA on 12/01/2008
I am hopeful the state of youth and their level of involement in their communities will change with the new administration. Just the reletively new idea of required community service in schools makes me feel better about this issue.
I do think society has done a poor job of requiring this of its children. Many kids today seem to me, to be given a great deal while very litttle is asked of them in return. As parents have slacked off on asking kids to help around the house, so also have requests of children to volunteer gone this way.
Parents get involved in volunteering, model it for your kids and then have them do it too.
Find an interest you like (animals, kids, older adults, etc.), help them find their interest and then support a group or activity that relates.
It takes effort, but so does anything worth while.
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