Political Apathy Amongst Youth

Young people today are constantly being branded politically apathetic. Sydney Morning Herald writer, Ben Heraghty stated that Ў§Young people nowadays are simply not interested in politics.ЎЁ (Green Left Weekly, March 27, 2002.) Is this assumption true? Are young people disinterested in our political system? Or are they simply confused? I believe that young people are passionate about many issues. But politicians wonЎ¦t listen to them.

With so little emphasis placed on issues concerning the youth, itЎ¦s no wonder they are becoming disillusioned. However, having said that, they certainly care about the things that affect them... like the interest rate or rises in HECS fees but when it comes to things that don't affect them personally their interest level seems to drop dramatically.

Another point worth noting would be that perhaps young Australians are apathetic and disenchanted due to a general feeling of mistrust. After all, for example, you never really get to meet or chat to the candidates that you are voting for to represent you. When you don't even know what the