It is often said that young people lack interest in and concern about in modern politics. To acknowledge why young people may be apathetic towards the modern political process, it is crucial to understand how the young view politics and how these views have been acquired. For some, it would seem that there is a definite lack of understanding of what politics is, rather than a complete lack of interest. The role of the media must not be underestimated in its positive and negative influences on the policitcal understanding and education of the young. Politicians are often viewed by young people as being out-of-touch, rich, old, upper-class and uncaring about issues affecting the young.

We may find that a young person refuses to participate in the political discourse because of his negative conception of the subject, based on what he has perceived in his environment, in his reading or on a negative conclusion that politics is chicanery, prevarication, hypocrisy, that one should distance himself from it.

Whilst it seems apparent that the youth culture is generally apathetic towards politics, it has also been discussed why this lack of interest prevails, through education, the media and consumer choice. The political process itself has also been used to show that politics is changing, and the youth culture may simply be staying in touch with the new politics that has resulted from it. From this, it can be concluded that whilst the young may in general be apathetic about traditional style politics, the apathy does not necessarily extend to the modern political process.

Actually, young people do not run away from politics per se, but rather from politics of a specific nature, or from difficult political situations, or from a political leadership which has none of the lofty ideals by which the greater political goals may be realized. The activities of many political parties and movements, along with their inner complexities, may be factors that alienate the young from involvement in this environment.

When it is desired that young people take an active political role, or when they are inspired to take it up, then they must study the intellectual, political, and functional manifesto of the party or the movement in question, with respect, on the one hand, to the young person’s affiliation and intellectual and doctrinal beliefs; and, on the other hand, to his concern and involvement in the affairs of the party, on a level where it realizes its main goals in staying the proper course. People, including young people, need to vote with an educated perspective. Educating oneself about the different facets of the political process is the individual’s responsibility, a task that has greatly been simplified thanks to technological advances.

Young people need to take the initiative themselves and get involved. Once they realize that their involvement is important and necessary, higher participation rates will follow. More and more, though still not enough, elected officials are talking about young people and politics. However, since few young people listen to politicians to begin with, the effect that they will have is unknown. The political arena is filled with barriers and deep holes, corridors, caves, and caverns - and it is necessary that young people feel out the territory carefully when either going forward or staying put.