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Essay / Youth Workers - 1503
IntroductionThis essay will focus on the main points of an article written by Rachel Brooks. The article focuses on a broad description of young people and their political participation. More specifically, this implies that young people tend to show interest and participate less in political action than other age groups. Additionally, it focuses on young women's willingness to express themselves politically and the extent of their political engagement. It also highlights the lack of gender in political participation among young people. Most survey results for young members of the European Union show that young men and women tend to be politically apathetic. However, it is argued that the lack of social activities and volunteering are two of the main reasons for the inactivity of social cohesion and citizenship among young people. Young people and political engagement Political engagement, as illustrated by contemporary media, concerns the qualification of a moral etiquette of a "good citizen", the domain of volunteering, of watching daily news, participate in activism and vote. Today, most books, articles and press materials portray young people as politically apathetic. This particular age group is failing in terms of civic and political participation, for example voting in elections, and is seen as passive and disengaged. (Banaji, 2008, p.1&2)According to Banaji (2008), nowadays, political engagement and civic participation no longer appeal to the general beliefs and activities of young people, because they are seen more as obligatory and less as a maturity, citizen political agency, or a sense of power and responsibility. However, in the middle of the document...no action and this "civic" engagement is better than no engagement. This means that today political participation can be expressed using different forms and sources and if one uses an alternative way of expressing it, this does not mean that it no longer exists. There is no formal evidence that younger age groups are less engaged in politics than older ones. However, there are many different methods that youth workers can use to inspire young people towards political action, social cohesion and engagement through informal education. These methods include volunteer work, group discussions and peer education. Finally, the notable absence of gender in terms of youth participation in politics is another very important consideration that needs to be highlighted in future research and surveys..