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| Politicians
Take Fleet, Youth Get the Rest |
Posted:
07.28.04 | |
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Eighteen-year-old Melissa Tuckman, a reporter for Y-Press
covering the Democratic National Convention at the Fleet Center
in Boston, asks teens whether lowering the voting age might make
more youth vote.
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Youth in Boston this week are finding ways to express their opinions beyond
voting, beyond the convention and beyond the established political parties.  Outside
of the Fleet Center each day protesters gather in the claustrophobia-inducing
"Free Speech Zone," to demand civil liberties and an end to police brutality.
Among the protesters are a few hundred youth making their voices heard.
Farther
away, in Dorchester on Sunday, young people joined professors and aging hippies
to discuss grassroots activism at the Boston Social Forum, held at the University
of Massachusetts. On Tuesday at a "Really Really Democratic Bazaar,"
organized in the Boston Commons by a group called the Bl(a)ck Tea Society, participants
set up booths to share food, skills, art, and their vision for a better political
system, which would not marginalize young voices. Although some of the booths
asked for donations, most of the merchandise offered -- food, stickers, pins,
and even clothes -- was free. Police patrolled the area suspiciously, and legal
observers were on hand. An anarchist folk singer performed several songs involving
repetitive chord structure and liberal use of an unprintable phrase. | |
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| Disenfranchised
youth? | |
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Of course, this kind of political involvement does not ensure young people
are adequately represented in the polls. In the last presidential election, only
36 percent of American citizens aged 18-24 voted. "There's a big population
that doesn't know what's going on or doesn't care," said Zeebah, 16, who
was attending the Boston Social Forum. Perhaps part of the reason young
people feel disillusioned with the political process is because they are, for
much of their youth, literally disenfranchised. Even the most well-informed and
active 16-year-old cannot vote. So would lowering the voting age be a step
in the right direction? "It would probably increase the number of
kids that are interested in politics," asserted Zeebah. "But I also
think that there are many kids at my age who wouldn't be able to make the most
educated decisions because I don't think they have experienced enough in life…
Once you go to college you see more than in high school." "On
the other hand, just magically turning 18 doesn't give you the experience,"
said Sam, 16, who was also attending the Forum. He also pointed out that not everyone
goes to college. "If kids are going to take the time to register to
vote that means they really care about it, and I think they should have a voice,"
said Eric, 16, a member of Pirates Against Bush. These "pirates," most
of who are too young to vote, seek to engage other youth by making activism "interesting
and fun." | |
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| Community
activism is the answer | |
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Although Eric's group and nearly all the protesters and bazaar attendees are
vehemently anti-Bush, they refuse to believe that simply voting him out of office
would effect the change they demand. They are quick to condemn the Democrats and
to dismiss the convention as a big "party" serving corporate interests. Lavella,
23, another Forum attendee, argued that voting is never enough. "People have
been voting for a long time and people are still dying here and we're still uneducated
and have no money for school," she said. "Voting does matter, but we
have to go further than that." "We need more community-based action
and change," agreed Sam. "That doesn't have to be through government
or policy." --By
Melissa Tuckman, 18, an editor for Y-Press and an incoming freshman at Wesleyan
University | |
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American schools and financial aid should be only for legal citizens of the United States. There should be no exceptions to this.
