Many a time have I mentioned an aspect of (UK) politics and get a blank stare or a 'I don't follow politics' as a response. I find this quite surprising really -I think that at the age of 15 or 16, people should know what is happening in the world. It's the same with people who say they 'hate' the news. Why would you choose to basically live in ignorance? What is so repellent about what is going on in the world?
Of course, this is all my own opinion; I love the idea of politics, yet hate many politicians, sort of contradicting myself: so really, there is not a lot of logic here. An awful lot of people who discuss politics at my school are not considered 'cool'. No-one even stops to think about the fact that they're well-informed and intelligent. For example, if I relay a satirical joke or anecdote, it can even be met by hostility.
Obviously, I am not speaking for everyone, as I know many people are not like this at all -the reason I am mentioning those who refuse to accept politics and current affairs is that I think their attitudes might not have been the same had we all been subjected to political ideas in a more accessible way, i.e. in school.
It's not like politics are boring -there's a scandal round every corner when it comes to politicians, and quite frankly, watching them squirm on Question Time and the likes is hilarious. Parliament (House of Commons) on TV isn't boring to me; a bunch of toffs running off sarcastic quips at each other, met by jeers from the other side - it's like some sort of bizarre, extremely posh rap battle.
I know my opinions are not always welcome - which is partly why I didn't mention my personal political views in this post - but I feel I have to express them.
If current affairs were introduced into our lives as part of a school curriculum, maybe then we could all form our own accurate opinions, and actually decide whether we are interested rather than just shut it out. This confuses me especially seeing as the press relentlessly portrays young people as ignorant and lazy (among other things), but there are so many cases in which more could have been done to teach us -well, not to be. It seems we've been somewhat sheltered from the goings-on in the world by our schools - I have heard of few that teach politics as a lesson rather than a small Debate Club at lunchtimes.
None of it makes any sense to me!
Anyway, sorry if this rambling post is not your cup of Cassis - but I thought it needed to be said that my school is not the most politically aware (or correct; my music teacher once asked me if the music of a gay musician I like is 'gay music', UGH), and should be.
I hope someone somewhere finds themselves agreeing with some issues raised in this post, and apologies for ranting (also, I'm aware this post is quite odd in relation to the rest of our blog. I thought it was time to unleash my views. #politicscanbecool)
Sinead
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
No comments:
Post a Comment