The Facts: Young adults aged 18-24 make up the lowest voting demographic by age at each election. News sources often attribute this low voting rate to political apathy.
Our Opinion: College students are not politically apathetic, and low voter turnout can be explained by other factors. However, it is true that many college students often know the headlines but neglect to learn the whole story. Students should take responsibility for knowing what’s going on in the world and what these events mean to them.
Numerous news sources have highlighted the fact that young people, particularly college-aged students, are the smallest voting demographic by age group. However, recent elections have illustrated a rise in young voters’ attendance, with 47 percent of voters aged 18-24 voting in the 2004 presidential election according to Fox News.
Many news sources have attributed this low voter turnout to political apathy. Various projects emerged to help combat this apparent apathy, but these projects miss the point. The issue is not political apathy, because many college aged students remain informed about current events. Voter turnout reflects more on individual belief in our type of government and whether an individual has a voice in our society.
However, it is true that some students in college undoubtably fail to stay informed about international news. College places the bulk of the responsibility of obtaining news on the student because information, for the most part, can no longer be obtained through parents and older siblings.
A certain degree of information is passed from peers, Facebook, Twitter, and other outlets for discussion. However, the information reported is often mere outcomes and the whole story is sometimes lost.
For example, the news of Muammar Gadhafi’s death spread like wildfire on social media courses as well as through the general student population. By the end of the week, his death was common knowledge and most knew that this event occurred.
But many did not know who Gadhafi was, past the fact that he was a Libyan dictator. They didn’t know the factors his death and how to separate these from rumor. Thousands of N.C. State students knew a man named Gadhafi was dead but many of those had no concept of the circumstances and implications of his death.
Another recent news event, potentially more relevant to students, emerged a few days ago when President Obama made the historic announcement to withdraw remaining troops in Iraq and bring them home.
Most college students are educated about the war in Iraq; they lived through it and weren’t too young to understand the circumstances surrounding its origins. There are many students with parents, siblings, other relatives, or friends still abroad. Other students are involved in the ROTC or plan to join the military after college. Obama’s decision impacts all of these individuals and the bare knowledge that he plans to pull troops out by the end of the year does not suffice.
College students are not politically apathetic. Students generally do know what is going on but there is a fine line between knowing the headlines and actually knowing the event. Because of the important effects these events can have on students, students should take responsibility for knowing what’s going on and researching the true story.
