By Sarah Barton-Bridges Voting can be an intimidating experience for many first-time voters such as myself. Registering to vote, researching political platforms and formulating opinions take a great deal of both effort and motivation. By increasing the availability of resources available to high school students, I believe that the voting turnout could potentially increase through encouraging more students to vote.
Recently, I began worrying about the upcoming provincial election. I had no idea who I would vote for. My knowledge of the political parties and their platforms was limited to a short unit in Social Studies 11 and a few lectures in my Political Science 100 course. The knowledge gained from those classes was restricted to key political terms and simple differences between the parties. I could differentiate between conservative and liberal ideologies, for instance, but I did not feel confident enough to rationalize favouring one over the other.
Once I returned home to Powell River after my first year in Vancouver at the University of British Columbia (UBC), I took it upon myself to do my research in order to make an educated vote on May 14. One of the resources that I found helpful was the Peak’s coverage of the all-candidates meeting that took place on April 30. The summaries and quotes presented in the article gave me a better idea of what each candidate in the election represented. I furthered my research with the help of every student’s best friend: Google. I reviewed a variety of hits from my search on the political parties of Canada and found detailed accounts of each party’s policies and principles. Based on this, I began to feel comfortable with how each party responded to the issues that I found important and, subsequently, how to vote.
Although I cared enough as a voter and Canadian citizen to educate myself about the voting process and possibilities, not all students do. Perhaps public high school education should include better preparation for students who are becoming entitled to express their own ideas through their right to vote. There are many other graduation requirements, so why should an education about voting be excluded? As a graduating student I was required to make a sample resumé and cover letter, but maybe I should have also been given the means to align my values with a political party without the bias from my family, my social status or the media. Voting is the chance for every eligible citizen to influence the policies that affect their lives and it is the first opportunity for students to have a significant power over the issues that they feel strongly about.
I suggest that high school should provide more opportunity to educate students and encourage them to make their own decisions, perhaps in the form of graduation transition requirements. While not all students may be particularly aroused by politics, all students should be educated enough to participate in what has been gained for them so many years ago: the vote.
Sarah Barton-Bridges is a Powell River resident returning home for the summer after completing her first year at university. She is pursuing a major in English at UBC in Vancouver.
