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Youth Voting
"People my age take such ‘privileges’ for granted."
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By Lauren Blassingame
When I took a day off from my hectic senior year schedule to help staff the DC primary, I noticed that none of the people who came to have their vote count looked anything like me.
The community I was polling in is predominantly black. So I thought, maybe members of the older black community value the right to vote because they experienced a time when they were unable to. But maybe people my age take such ‘privileges’ for granted.
Popular television stations, like MTV, have been stressing the importance of youth in the political arena, with special programming to persuade young people to vote. With all the media support, why isn’t the message getting through? In my opinion, it has to start from home and the immediate community.
Until civic leaders take action to enhance voter education for teenagers, youth participation will continue to decline. Communities have to care about their kids voting. The success and development of these communities depends on it.
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