Monjola, Year 12

14 Jun Monjola, Year 12

I am delighted to introduce a new regular entry to JRCS Seagull. Monjola, in Year 12, is hoping to pursue a career in journalism after her A Level studies and has kindly agreed to contribute a regular column to The Seagull. It will be varied in terms of putting across views, looking at what is occurring in the community and creating some debate.

Her first piece below is based around why young people should be bothered about politics on a national and local basis. After the article is a QR code to use if you or any student over 16 is not yet registered to vote. Whilst you have to be 18 to vote, once registered you will be automatically sent details once old enough.

We recently had speakers in to our Sixth Form and 90% of them are now registered and ready to put their X on the spot (once they turn 18!).

Without any more words ….. I leave you with Monjola.

Miss Campbell

Deputy Director of Sixth Form

“Monjola’s Insights”

Why should young people care about politics?

“Why should I care about what’s going on with our politics, I can’t vote anyway?” A commonly misguided attitude amongst young people which embodies a far from accurate reality of the importance of young people being politically involved. With general election day looming and an all too familiar campaign buzz playing its part in inciting society, the play for Westminster is dominating headlines once again – and this critical period is increasingly becoming just as significant for the people who can cast their ballot, as the young people who currently can’t.

The future is not so far away and actively taking steps to become politically conscious is major for this group, who will soon be directly impacted by decisions on things such as student loans, taxes, housing and salaries. The inevitable link between young people and these key policy areas means that they need to familiarise themselves with the political sphere now, so they are equipped to make justifiable choices. Being prepared to be civically engaged is also a way to act on otherwise just wishful thinking of changes they hope will eventually come about. This all just cements how crucial it is to be ready to vote and young people should appropriately prepare themselves to offer their fresh, diverse perspectives to the nation they will one day inherit.

Being productive in this preparation will lead them to find accomplishment in remaining in the loop and therefore being capable of making informed decisions. Perhaps informed enough to influence voters within their families!

A further means of political proactiveness for young people would be to look at parties’ manifestos which have begun to be released and take notice of the promises being made by them so that in the next election, they can look out for what exactly has been fulfilled. This would be helpful for young people in constructing their voting perspective, and may simultaneously warrant heightened consideration of local elections, where they may find a route to a more effective, concentrated impact on them as an individual.

This is increasingly important as all aspects of politics affect young people, as disconnected from the sector as they may sometimes feel. Feeling safe as a young person on the streets, struggling with mental health, having concerns on the state of social justice and the plans for the change in climate which younger generations may be raising families in are just some lifestyle elements of young people that are arguably only heavily influenced through the political arena. When this is highlighted, young people should be encouraged to be aware of where their future is heading and how they feel about this. Considering ways to help this, social media is a dominating part of the average young person’s life – and perhaps more needs to be done to make this home to a bigger political presence to stimulate that awareness young people crucially need.

Monjola

A General Election has been called for
4 July 2024. Register to vote by 11:59pm on 18 June 2024.

Who can register?

If you live in England and Northern Ireland

You must be aged 16 or over.

You can register to vote if you’re a British citizen or an Irish citizen.

You can also register if you have permission to enter or stay in the UK, Channel Islands or Isle of Man – or you do not need permission – and you’re a:

• Commonwealth citizen
• Citizen of Denmark, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal or Spain
• Citizen of another EU country, if you have had permission to enter or stay – or not needed permission – since 31^st December 2020, and this has continued without a break.