Teens and politics don’t mix -- and there are reasons why
Fewer teens are tuning into politics than just a few years ago, for a variety of reasons – among them depression about the gloomy state of world affairs and a lack of access to quality news.
Teenagers in the 13 to 17 range are less interested in politics than older age groups, according to an August article on Apnorc.org, with 44% of teenagers reporting they do not follow politics closely.
When young people hear about what’s going on in the news, it’s often from social media or friends and family. It can feel depressing because people tend to only talk about the bad things that are going on.
Youth aren’t motivated to inform themselves because it means going out of their way to be sad. This hopelessness, combined with teens’ inability to vote, make many of them feel voiceless.
Hana Shukairy, a Miramonte senior, gives a different reason to why students aren’t informed.
“Teens lack access to traditional news sources. Also, kids don’t check the news to stay educated, and without this information, they lack the passion to stay civically engaged,” she said.
Kids used to look at newspapers, television and radio, but now they use this time to scroll on social media.
Civics is also not emphasized in schools, which means students don’t have the chance to learn about America’s democracy.
According to the National Assessment of Education Progress (nces.ed.gov), an exam that tests students’ civics knowledge, only 29% of students who took the exam had a teacher with a primary responsibility of teaching civics.
Unlike many states, California mandates an American government course as a high school graduation requirement.
At Miramonte, students take a semester of American government, and in English classes, students learn about identifying proper news sources and how to engage with them.
Lucas Rasher, a high school senior, said that learning about the news in his English classes taught him about civics.
“Classes like English should be mandated to include civics in their curriculum,” said Rasher.
Nationwide school administrators could incorporate a curriculum in any social sciences class –like English – about finding unbiased news sources and how to process negative news instead of avoiding it.
Rascher said many of his classes embody civics elements.
“Mr. Compton, my AP macroeconomics teacher, informs us on the daily news and encourages us to do our own research,” he said.
More interactive ways to engage students could be doing mock elections, poll work recruitment and pre-voter registration drives and hosting guest speakers.
In 2023, Centerpoint, a political discourse club, hosted former State Senator Steve Glazer to talk about his work and answer questions.
Students from various grades and friend groups came to listen to Glazer, which encouraged them to learn more about the political sphere and stay involved in current events.
Interactive events are among effective ways to connect teens and politics.
At home, parents can also encourage civic engagement by turning on the TV to watch the news before school, discussing current events at the dinner table and introducing their kids to people with different political views.
