Idea of the day: Compulsory politics lessons in schools

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Idea of the day: Compulsory politics lessons in schools

06.11.2009 // by Guest

This idea comes from a group of politics students from Sussex Downs College in Lewes:

What's the big idea?: Politics AS students @ Sussex Downs College

We are a group of AS-level politics students from Sussex Downs College in Lewes. As a class, we have come up with an idea to submit to Power2010 - we believe that there should be compulsory politics lessons in schools. One of the main problems which dogs politics in Britain is the lack of participation - particularly the lack of young people who take part in our democratic processes. We also think that having these compulsory politics lessons will not only allow young people in the UK to take part, but will pave the way for lowering the voting age to 16. Encouraging young people to take part in voting will allow them to become active participants, who take a genuine interest in how the country is run. With the current plans to raise the school-leaving age, we believe time can be made to fit one-hour politics lessons into the curriculum at least twice per half term. If young people know they will have a say in their country's governance, they will naturally be encouraged to attend these lessons. After all, we trust our under-18s to join the army, have sex, get married, live alone, and pay taxes and adult fares - so why don't we trust them to have a say in how these things are run?

Why is this change important to you?:

This idea is important to us, both as politics students at college and as young people who are not yet eligible to vote. Therefore we feel it is an important change to be made - as young people are increasingly under-represented in the UK with a lack of young MPs, ministers who cater to our needs, and people in government with whom we can connect.