Why College Students Don't Vote

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Why College Students Don't Vote

It has become a growing trend in the 1990's that college students do not take advantage of their right to vote and to take part in the democratic system. In fact, only one out of every three individuals in the 18 to 24 age group cast a ballot in the 1996 presidential election. College students ranked as the least represented demographic" (http://www.idsnews.com/ news/2000.07.31/campus/2000.07.31.students.html). Students do not want to vote for many different reasons. They are considered apathetic by society, but this isn't really the case. In actuality, students feel that politicians turn them away. Most importantly, students do not vote because they feel that they can't make a difference. Also, distance from their voting districts has been a problem for many people. Another major issue for students is that they are just too busy and don't make time to follow politics closely. In polling freshman at Manhattanville College, I discovered that all these are true. The effects of this may be catastrophic. Politicians need to start including and interesting the people of my generation in order to keep democracy thriving.

The biggest factor that turns people away from voting is the feeling of ineffectuality. Based on an article from September 1999 in The Maneater, students feel as if voting won't make a difference. "I don't vote because I can't make a big difference, even though they say I can," junior Jack Weatherman said. "Even my political science teacher said one person can't change things" (http://www.themaneater.com/1999/09/21/news/apathy.html). Unless society and politicians show the world that every vote counts, and everybody can make a difference this feeling will always remain. People need to understand that if every single person tries to make a difference, then the combination of everyone's efforts will make a difference. The important thing to remember is that it takes the effort of the individual to give strength to the power of the whole.

Today's society, as a whole, tends to view young people as indifferent and blasé about the world around them. However, students feel that they are tuned out by politics. According to the responses to the survey I gave, college students feel that the issues addresses do not pertain to them, and are not relevant to their lives. Issues such as Medicare, and what to do about social security are not a concern of young people and their lives right now.

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