The Luxury of Time and Energy: Why Youth Engagement in Politics is Sparce

By Davina Srioudom

My peers who aren’t very civically engaged fall into two groups: those who wish to be engaged but don’t have the capacity and those who don’t want to at all. The former group is composed of individuals who simply have too much on their plate. I’ve seen my peers in a balancing act between their basic needs and a hectic work and school schedule. I’ve seen the strenuous toll that’s taken on them as they deal with housing and food insecurity, which eliminates  any free time they have to be engaged in politics. The latter group are individuals who have grown so apathetic to politics that they start to wonder why they should even care when an issue doesn’t directly impact them. Instead, they dedicate themselves to other activities that they feel are worthy of their time and energy, not realizing how fortunate they are to have time to spare. As individuals who have the luxury of spare time and energy, it is critical that we put our efforts towards civic engagement in order to ensure a future that works for everyone. If we fail to act or do so, we are effectively turning our back on marginalized communities and failing to meet our long-term equity goals. It is our role to advocate for our communities, so that everyone who wants to be civically engaged has the opportunity to do so. And it’s important to recognize that civic engagement doesn’t require individuals to donate massive pools of wealth, but rather to dedicate their time and energy to helping one another out.