Present
Between the influence of mainstream media and politicians, youth politics in the United States has been illegitimated and deprioritized. Organizations such as National Youth Rights Association and The Freechild Project continue to advocate and educate for issues that affect young people specifically, while other organizations, including Youth Service America and Advocates for Youth work for issues that affect youth directly. The children's rights movement is widely credited with keeping youth politics on the national radar, while other fledgling movements such as youth voice and youth participation have yet to gain the spotlight.Even with the efforts of these organizations, many college students do not see politics as an important part of their lives. Only 33% of college freshman think being knowledgeable about politics to be important. Data collected in by the National Center for Education Statistics found that overall young Americans care more about entertainment and sports than political and foreign news. Despite these statistics there is a positive outlook on youth involvement in the future because of the 2008 election when President Barack Obama ran.
Read more about this topic: Youth Politics
Famous quotes containing the word present:
“The present reeks of mediocrity and the atom bomb.”
—René Magritte (1898–1967)
“... the loss of belief in future states is politically, though certainly not spiritually, the most significant distinction between our present period and the centuries before. And this loss is definite. For no matter how religious our world may turn again, or how much authentic faith still exists in it, or how deeply our moral values may be rooted in our religious systems, the fear of hell is no longer among the motives which would prevent or stimulate the actions of a majority.”
—Hannah Arendt (1906–1975)
“Talk to them about things they don’t know. Try to give them an inferiority complex. If the actress is beautiful, screw her. If she isn’t, present her with a valuable painting she will not understand. If they insist on being boring, kick their asses or twist their noses. And that’s about all there is to it.”
—John Huston (1906–1987)