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Spreading the gospel New political platform is pushing Flemish teens to become more politically active Andy Furniere
With the “mother of all elections” approaching fast and thousands of teenagers set to cast their first-ever votes in May, we asked researchers how interested Flemish youth really are in politics and examined the Flemish government’s work to encourage active citizenship
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ith the independent platform BPolitix, three freshfaced teenage friends are hoping to encourage fellow students to critically reflect on politics in Belgium before they cast their first votes in the May elections of next year. The group of 17-year-olds is using social media in a major way to propagate its message, but is also planning a series of debates across Flanders next year. BPolitix officially launched earlier this month, the brainchild
of Arnaud Hoornaert, Simon Rastelli and Samuel van Bael. The three met during a session of the Model European Parliament (MEP), in which students from across the European Union act as lawmakers and brainstorm on crossborder issues, like migration, trade agreements and GMO regulations. According to Hoornaert, these kinds of MEP activities offer a great entry point for young people into the current political situation. But he notes that participating in the MEP is only possible for a limited number of teenagers. “When we talk to our friends, most of them don’t show much interest and also lack essential knowledge,” says Hoornaert, who lives in Loppem, West Flanders. “Many of them don’t even know the difference between the regional minister-presidents and the federal prime minister.” Because of the importance of the next elections, which the
Flemish media have dubbed “the mother of all elections”, the three friends set up a team of a dozen other young members to establish their own information platform. The group is mainly targeting final-year secondary students, many of whom will vote for the first time next year. Since most teenagers are very active on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, these are BPolitix’s main channels to reach out to Flemish youth. The new group will distribute informative articles and editorials through its website and social media platforms. With animated videos, for instance, they will attempt to explain complex topics, like the difference between the federal and regional institutions and the main political parties. The founders say one of their goals is also to encourage young people to think about policy issues that affect their daily lives, like the upcoming major secondary education reform `` continued on page 5