Just Act! Youth Apathy Cannot Continue.

By Caillou Dasalla

As a teenager, politics always seemed like something that just happens. It was hard to see politics as something I could engage in; it seemed like an abstract concept occurring in faraway Washington, without the consideration of individuals like myself. However, as I became a voter, the importance of politics came into perspective.

Politics often seems solely like a national affair when you’re young. However, when you fill out your first-ever ballot, you see how intensely local politics truly are. National politics occupy but a few bubbles; the rest is controllers, school board members, and initiatives. The real meat of politics is the “small stuff” that young voters are too often discouraged from speaking on. Nonetheless, it is critical that young people become engaged in local politics.

Down ballot offices and measures have real effects. These decisions make the difference between the funding of our schools, whether towns are competitively zoned, if the garbage gets collected, whether the bus runs on time, and more. If young people don’t care to take notice of what occurs down ballot then we are surrendering our voice to older voters who are disconnected from the impactful issues important to adolescents.

Young voters cannot surrender like this. We must engage in politics and make ourselves heard, or else those who deride our aspirations for progress might just trample our hopes and capitalize off our apathy. As young voters, we must embody the old adage “think globally, act locally.” But most importantly, just act!