Destroying the myth that young people in Jersey are apolitical
As election day looms student Gabriel Carter takes a look at what it’s like to be young and engaged in Jersey politics
It’s a cliche, now more than ever, that young people are apathetic about politics. It’s claimed that we don’t care anymore — that the radical student movements of the past are dead, and young people are far too glued to their smartphones to give a fig about political goings-on.
With an election in a week’s time that has the potential to transform utterly the face of politics in Jersey, and with key decisions about our Island’s future hanging in the balance, it’s more important than ever that young people are represented by our government. It is issues that affect us that are most important in this election — a sustainable funding mechanism for the universities grant scheme is yet to be identified, the implications of Brexit are as yet unknown, and poverty among single-parent families and children is on the rise. It is, therefore, vital that our voice is heard and our opinions taken into account — and vital that younger people are politically active to ensure that representation.
It’s a myth that young people are apolitical. I have never met anyone my age who, when confronted with a political issue, was unable to express a view on it. The growth of the internet and social media has ensured young people are as informed about political developments as they’ve ever been — young people are knowledgeable, politically conscious and able to engage with issues as well as (and often better than) anyone older than them. The capacity of people my age to get riled up about single issues — immigration, crime, the War on Drugs, and even international politics (the current U.S. administration is not what you might call popular) — is very high, with thoughtful debate entirely possible.
That said, I have met very few people my age who would commit themselves to a political program — very few would describe themselves as socialist or capitalist, conservative or liberal, Tory or a ‘Corbynista’. Labels are essentially irrelevant — almost no-one my age who doesn’t have a particular interest in politics could tell you what most of them mean anyway — so political thought is limited to single issues, without ideology or theory backing them up. A broadly socially liberal, secularist view predominates (this can occasionally veer into anti-religious, New Atheist-type bigotry), with most people fans of liberal icons such as Barack and Michelle Obama and Justin Trudeau, and scorn poured upon figures perceived as more right-wing — Theresa May, Donald Trump, Marine le Pen, et cetera. Younger people are markedly pro-European, and Brexit is often dismissed as a racist or illiberal move.
You may have noticed that I haven’t mentioned any Jersey political figures in the previous paragraph, and that’s because essentially no-one understands the political system.
Most people my age have too much going on to bother attempting to understand our arcane system, with its’ three types of elected member, speaker-who’s-also-a-judge, arbitrary and confusing “electoral districts” in larger parishes demarcated by nothing more than a line on a bureaucrat’s map, and independent politicians who all stand for the same thing and are voted in on the basis of their business and family connections and/or popularity at the local boozer.
Political education in schools is exceptionally, fantastically poor and does next to nothing to alleviate this near-universal ignorance of our political system. One hour in one week in a school year might be dedicated to political education, followed by a year of making posters about healthy eating or being lectured by a rather large policeman about why being within three feet of a joint will give you cancer, schizophrenia, brain damage and a premature death. The failure of schools to dedicate a meaningful amount of time to education about the very core of our society — our system of government — is not only toxic for democracy but forces young people to do their own research and go through separate channels to find out information their school could and should be teaching them.
This isn’t helped by the fact that the States Assembly has an average age of 56 — the vast majority of politicians simply don’t understand the issues affecting young people. They remain obsessed with pie-in-the-sky policies like first-time-buyer homes, completely ignoring the problem that younger people can barely afford to rent, let alone buy, and cack-handed attempts to shore up our votes by promising to fund our university education without finding a sustainable funding mechanism. It’s no coincidence that the youngest member of the States, Sam Mézec, also leads the party with the policies most favorable to young people — support for the skate park, a real plan to fund the university grant scheme, and the establishment of a permanent Jersey Youth Parliament. There was a Youth Parliament that ran for a few months in 2016, but fizzled out — the establishment of a state-run, permanent one would be a boon to get young people involved.
With all this, though, there are still those who take a condescending and dismissive attitude towards politically involved young people.
Younger candidates are so often dismissed on certain internet forums as inexperienced, idealistic, utopian or ignorant. Teenagers are asked why they aren't in school if they’re commenting during the day — when they reply that it’s lunchtime, or the holidays, they’re inevitably on the receiving end of a lecture about how “kids are never in school these days”. They are sarcastically told that “your parents must be so proud of you”, or, less subtly, told they are mentally ill and need to be sectioned. While we all know these views come from a small minority of “back in my day” types, it still serves as a barrier for young people entering politics that they’re faced with such attitudes as “you should always respect your elders no matter what” and “if this was my kid…”
Hopefully, the result delivers an Assembly with the interests of younger people in mind, and an attitude that will foster rather than inhibit the political development of younger people. If not — my generation will be spending another three years under the proverbial bus.
