why don't young people vote?

We're seen as the dregs of society. We all have bad attitudes, bad work ethic and don't care about what happens in our country. Our generation has possibly one of the worst reputations there has ever been for young people, with students especially, seen as idle gits whose fulfilment's come from desperately scrambling a couple of quid together to get down to the SU for a pint. Recent articles I've read such as this by Oliver Hughes from the Independent(which has a fantastic student section FYI), this by my absolute girl/writer/human crush, Emma Gannon on girllostinthecity, and by far the best Ted Talks video by Rick Edwards(below), where he truly talks so much sense - I urge you to watch this, you won't regret it.

All 3 of these have really struck a cord with me because honestly, I hadn't even thought a huge amount about it until I came to university, I just didn't really understand the political system or who I'm meant to vote for, and every time I had tried to learn more, I'd turn on Question Time to see a pathetic bunch of middle aged MPs arguing, going tit for tat over irrelevant topics.

Young people are not lazy, we just don't understand. Why don't we understand? Because we're ignored. Young people do care - we volunteer and campaign, we discuss and debate, but how are we supposed to vote in a system in which we have little faith in and in which politicians involved do not care. Why would we care when we aren't cared about?

Politicans look after their own - they look after the people who vote for them, the old. I'm not suddenly going young vs old, and I also don't think that the whole entire universe should revolve around us because we are fabulous and great and 'reem'. Young people are expected not to vote, so a few wishy washy promises are made, and broken(I'm looking directly at you Nick Clegg) and we are therefore hit the hardest. Student fees are inexplicably high, welfare benefits for under 25s have been dramatically reduced; the list goes on and on...and on.

So what do we do? Do we just not vote and let politicians merrily carry on 'representing' us, as citizens in a supposedly democratic society? Do we close our eyes and tick the box we're closest, (because lets face it, they're all as bad as each other) so we can say we are voting? Or do we demand a change?

We are living in 2014 and yet we cannot vote online. We bank, we insert our debit card details into hundreds of thousands of sites, yet someone in the Houses of Parliament says that it may be unsecure and may lead to fraud? REALLY? Rick Edwards states that in a survey he carried out on twitter, 75% of 18-35 yr olds would vote if it was possible to do it online. Seventy five percent. How significant could that be in the general elections.

Another issue that needs to be addressed is the fact that we actually don't know where to start. What party represents what, which policies will affect me in positive way - and this needs to be told to us in  a factual, straight forward manner - no political, wishy washy crap that no one either understands or believes. There is nowhere that can do this properly - because remember, young people don't care.

Until 1992, over 60% of 18-24 year olds voted in the general elections, by 2010 this had dropped to 44% and in the most recent European and local elections, a mere 34% turned out to vote. This will drop further and further if politicians continue to ignore us, continue to stereotype us to the media as lazy and careless, until none of us vote at all. And then our children won't vote, and neither will our grandchildren and then what happens? 

We have a voice and it should be heard.

Growing Up

Recently, whilst scrolling down my twitter feed and procrastinating on other social media platforms, I’ve seen an increasing amount of people utter the words, ‘I wish I was little again..’ or ‘I want to be a child again’. Now these people aren’t old, and not even close to being old enough to be in the midst of a midlife crisis yet - but instead are late teens(I’m not an adult, I can’t be an adult yet ok, I have one year left of ‘teen’ being at the end of my age and I intend to cherish it) and 20 somethings, who are beginning to realise that life isn’t all ice creams, Disney channel and playing Bulldog in the playground(can anyone remember that game – bless us..). 

For a split second I went to agree with them, but as I thought about it I realised that actually, I’ve loved ‘growing up’, moving out, going to university etc. I’m not about to do a mystical speech on ‘finding yourself’ because frankly, I think if that’s what you’re looking for, you’re never going to find it – it will happen in time, without desperate attempts of forcing yourself to become a certain person or ‘thing’. I do think however, that moving out of the family home at 18 and going to university in Newcastle, miles away from home, has been the best thing that I could ever have done.  

I didn’t immediately love university or being away from home. In fact, I’m pretty sure I had one of the most horrendous fresher’s weeks ever but looking back now, I love that I experienced the struggle of adjusting to life outside of my little comfort bubble, especially now, as I can see just how much I’ve grown, changed and developed as my own person. 

Now I’m not saying that being a child again would be the worst thing in the entire world and I definitely do not think that at the start of every month when money flies out of my account to cover rent and bills. Playing ‘out’ with friends, watching Tracy Beaker and eating as many Haribo sweets as physically possible without the thought of calories, sugar or weight even entering my head sounds fabulous, but I’ve been there, done that and now I want to experience more.  

I think actually it’s the freedom. The freedom of being able to do what you want, when you want(I mean, within reason – take university and work out of the equation). The freedom to not have to answer to anyone(apart from a flatmate when they shriek, WHO’S LEFT THEIR MOULDY FOOD IN THE BOTTOM OF THE FRIDGE?!...my bad.) The freedom…wait for it...to do my own food shopping(is it weird that I love to go food shopping? Literally the highlight of my week –don’t be jealous of my exciting life...). Just having the ability to organise and figure out my own life and direction is such a good feeling.  

I haven’t come from a horrible home or place – the complete opposite in fact! I love home. And I miss home too. Nothing is better than eating a home cooked meal, or getting into a freshly made bed that you haven’t struggled to make up(swearing at a duvet isn’t good for anyone) but I would never have appreciated that as much as I do now, without having to fend for myself and experience these grossly boring tasks. Of course there are times when I hate not living at home, for selfish and non-selfish reasons.. Coming down to a disgustingly full sink of dirty pots to wash, washing and ironing my own clothes and cleaning mildew off the shower isn’t particularly what I had in mind for living the oh so glamourous independent life.  I do miss having those reassuring natters with my mum or grandma over a cuppa or a laugh with my dad on a daily basis but now, I appreciate the time I do spend with them so much more. Two things that no one should ever take for granted. Family and time. 

I’m so excited for my future but more importantly, I’m loving the present too. I love living with friends, I love visiting and appreciating family and home. I love that I finally have some sort of direction with what I want to do, how I want to live and the person I want to be.

Nothing says living life as a student like scratching stale porridge off the top you’ve just picked up off the floor and thrown on, whilst trying to drag a brush through your hair as you’re running out the door(hahahah no I’ve never done that hahaha) but no one said growing up is a fairytale and I wouldn't want it any other way.

Our Obsession with Money

Can you remember as a child when your mum would impatiently say ‘money doesn’t grow on trees you know!’ as you begged for that brand new, must have toy you’d just seen advertised on TV? Then progressively, as you get older, that saying turns into, ‘money doesn’t make you happy’ as you moaned at how life was so unfair because you weren’t a Kardashian with money literally dripping from your pores?(That moaning has since turned into hysterical sobbing as I scroll through Kendall Jenner’s Instagram page but that’s for another time..) Wrongly or rightly, our lives revolve completely around money – our happiness depends on, admit it; it does

I hadn’t actually realised the full extent to this until I moved out to go to university, as I’d always just thought it was adults just being…adults I suppose. Suddenly, you get thrown into this world of rent and buying your own bread and milk(ew), getting progressively worse in 2^nd year, as you become embroiled in electricity and water bills, broadband and even having to buy a TV license…remember when you used to buy clothes and make-up? Hahaha*sobs*

I actually managed to get a full time job for the summer, whilst I basically have half the year off (errr, what exactly am I paying £9,000 a year for my degree, David Cameron? You off on your jollies and need some spending money?) and when I totted up how much I would get paid by the end of July, I literally combusted with excitement and started writing down everything I would buy.

1 – Holiday(ok, I did get this, I couldn’t handle not going away for some sort of holiday..)
2 – A whole new wardrobe
3 – The entire Nars product collection
4 – ALL THE FOOD!!!!

Hahaha yeah this is definitely happening… In my dreams.

Why do our lives revolve around money, yet most of us don’t actually have that much of it? Or is that the whole reason why? We all dream and fantasise about what we would do if we won the lottery, we write down ‘wish lists’ and tell ourselves that we are so going to save up for that Apple Macbook Air or that beautiful dress in Topshop that we’ve tried on 8 times yet reluctantly given back to the shop assistant every time… but never actually end up doing it – not because we don’t want too but because life just gets in the way.

My payday was last week and in eager anticipation I kept checking my account…it got later on into the day and beads of sweat began forming as it wasn’t appearing.. My form was lost. My payment got delayed. I literally felt like an addict being deprived of crack. The relief I felt when I finally saw it show up in my account – I did a little bum jiggle and everything. But what did I buy? Something super exciting and cool? I must have done if I’d got that worked up over not being paid/being paid/da monaaay right? Well if a TV license, some broadband, a duvet and a lamp qualifies as that then YEP. I went ceerraazzzyyy.

With this talk of money, you always get those people saying ‘oh my god, you’re soo materialistic’ or, ‘it’s not what you buy, it’s who you buy it for’ or, ‘money doesn’t bring happiness’(bullshit btw, just saying). Of course everyone loves their family and friends, couldn’t and wouldn’t be without them, but please find me someone out there who wouldn’t like a bit more money? Or, A LOT in most cases. Most people have discussions, moans or sometimes even a quiet little cry about the dollar, or lack of it that they have, weekly, daily, sometimes even HOURLY – we are a world completely and utterly obsessed with money.

I don’t know how suddenly enjoying money, and wanting more of it has become something to be ashamed or slightly embarrassed about? Why does this automatically mean that I am A) shallow B) sad or C) hate people. I don’t! Money just makes life easier and I’m not going to pretend I wouldn’t want to be a tenner behind Beyonce(or look like her but that might be asking for slightly too much..).

So, yeah.. There we go. Just a few thoughts – and please, don’t even remind me that I have less than 2years before I don’t have the privilege of student discount.. Just don’t even think about it.