When I decided that I would write an article on the youth perspective on the upcoming local election, I honestly thought that my peers would be interested and have many thoughts on this subject.
On Tuesday evening, I was one of the two youth who attended the election forum. That’s when I realized that most of my peers at school probably don’t even know what’s going on with the election.
So, I did a survey and asked 5 students from each grade what their thoughts were on the election. According to statistics recorded on my survey, only 16% of the twenty-five students I surveyed at SOSS even think about the election and town leadership in Oliver.
The students I surveyed indicated that the reason they were apathetic is because they aren’t able to vote yet.
Poor voter turnout has been a problem in B.C., where participation rates have been declining for the past decade.
Even though the voting age is 19, that doesn’t mean that youth in our community shouldn’t know what’s going on.
I believe that the right to vote is a precious gift that people should be taking advantage of.
In light of the fact that this coming week we all remember our veterans, we should honor them as they fought for our freedom and our right to vote.
We should be grateful that we, as Canadians, have that right. The leaders we choose can and will have a huge effect on how we live our daily lives in our country, province, and even our own little community.
Despite the fact that I am too young to vote, it does not mean that I can’t have an influence on the decisions my parents, grandparents, or older siblings make regarding their voting choices.
Many aspects of my life will be affected by the results of this and many upcoming elections.
As students, I believe we have a responsibility to be aware and informed of the issues that are relevant to the election, but from the information I’ve gathered, the majority of youth in our community don’t take the elections seriously.
A few of my peers that I have talked to about the subject, say that they just hope their parents choose wisely; however, the vast majority don’t seem to have any interest in municipal elections.
(Jojo Abellan is in Grade 10 at SOSS.)
