Encouraging teenagers to vote can be difficult as politics always seems to be a boring subject that isn't really spoken about in day to day teenage life. However, if 18 year olds have the right to vote then why shouldnt they? It's time to encourage young people to make use of the vote that they've been allowed.
What are young people interested in?
No matter what style of genre, all young people enjoy listening to and engaging in music as it's something that you don't have to focus hard on, it's available whenever you want it and it can make you feel happy and more settled in situations.
How can music be used to get young people to vote?
There are a few different ways that music could be used to get young people interested in voting. Students from any course could work along side the music students to write a song that will appeal to everyone, that can be played in class and around college to enforce the message of the vote.
Another idea of using music could be to build up a college choir that could sing the voting song. If the debut of the song is well advertised around the college by the media students and arranged to happen at a time when a lot of students will be free to come and watch then groups of students may decide together that, if they are of age, they will remember or decide to vote.
How can the act of voting in the election be made interesting?
Political party broadcasts can be pretty boring and very unappealing to a younger audience, so if students from around the college from courses like media and performing arts could work together to produce a sort of 'parody' of political broadcasts, that still deliever the correct information, then it may add some comical value. Also, if students see their friends getting involved it makes the idea of voting more appealing to them as teeangers often follow the crowd.
The thought of having to leave the house and make a special journey to a specific venue to place a vote may put a lot of young people off of voting as it may be out of their way, they could feel intimidated by some of the older voters or they just can't fit it into their schedule. If there was a place in college where just college students could go to place their vote, a place where everyone feels as though they're of the same value and worth and that's easy to get to, college students may be more likely to vote in that instance.
Voting online would also be a good idea as all students in college have access to a computer and the internet and feel comfortable and at ease when they're using a computer. If college students knew that they could place their vote and it would only take a few seconds, most students wouldn't hesitate.
Which media formats would work?
Posters are always a good way of presenting information to teenagers as they can be big and bold. They are easier to look at than leaflets as all of the information is easy to read and to the point, rather than having to pick up a booklet and read a lot of detailed information. If there was a poster on the wall with key information, most students would read it without even realising.
As all college students use computers everyday at college, it would make sense to have some online content. Around the time of the general election in may, the Moodle home page could have a big, bold notice reminding students to vote. Also on this home page there would be clear links to pages where the students can find out more information.
Remaining along the lines of internet content, as well as the Moodle information, all students at the college could recieve a reminder email along with voting and party information that they are free to read at any time.
What would the style, content and information be like?
The posters and online information would have to be colourful and eye catching as dull and drab colours aren't very uplifting for teenagers and it enforces the idea that making a vote is boring, therefore colour must be used. It would be good to use images of popular famous faces or students around college as they will be familar to the young people at college therefore interesting and engaging them more. The information must be brief but clear and important. All that will be needed is information about when and where the voting will take place and just a few sentences on what each party aims to do, incase some students are completely unaware.
How would I go about researching this to find out..
What people at college currently think of politics/voting?
This is something I have already done in college, I produced a questionaire and asked students around college questions about their knowledge on politics, here are the results.
How to get young people interested in politics/voting?
As I know what courses Bath College has on offer, I can make an educated guess on what young people in the college are interested in. For example, if a voting campaign was musical then it should interest music students. If the campaign was promoted with lots of art work then the art students would pay attention to it or if lots of figures, facts and statistics were given then the business students may want to get invloved. As a teenager, I know what teenagers are interested in meaning I know the things that would grab their attention.
What media I could create to promote voting?
If there was a survey on the Moodle homepage asking students what they look at regularly e.g. internet, blogs, social media, magazines, tv, books, I would know where to put the information about my campaign. Which ever media format gets the kost attention from teenagers would be the best place to promote my campaign.
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