yes, you should care.

Opinion: Young people 18 years of age or more who actively choose not to vote are wasting a privilege that they do not understand the value of. Empty complaining does nothing, but becoming educated on politics and voting does.

Maybe you’ve never been the most politically inclined, or maybe you find yourself lost in the sea of information and opinion that is offered when trying to learn anything about the elections. Whatever the reason, if you are one of the many who did not involve themselves in the midterms last year, let this article be your entry point into them.

So, what happened? Well, the midterms came to a close last year with the last vote on December 6th in Georgia. The it and the avenues students can take. as well. It can even be brought about by young people. One such case was when the United States was torn apart by the VIetnam War. When if you were 18 you could be drafted to die in war, but you could not vote. In response to this injsutice, young activists pushed to lower the voting age to 18 instead of 21. round of elections this past year was full of notable moments: such as popularly predicted Republican wins not succeeding, discussions of voter safety, and even claims of suppression. While these events may seem like subjects that only exist in the news, stuck on the 24 hour loop, they have very real effects. Regardless of political alignment, or even whether you choose to vote or not, political events do change the way people live their lives.

“I think a lot of time highschool students … think that they’re young, they can’t affect anything, nothing affects them; but I always tell my students that the government election is the number one thing they learn about in school that actually affects their life everyday,” says Spears.

Voter intimidation. An inflammatory pair of words, and one which was mentioned frequently last year. This frequently repeated pair of words came about because of a form of votig different to regular in-person voting. For voters last year, absentee and mail-in voting was an alternative method of voting that was offered. When compared overall to elections in the past, absentee voting is much more prevalent, making it very relevant to how people currently vote.

This right to vote at 18 is recent, and remembering how recent it is is the key to appreciating it. Staying informed and active politically means you can be involved in the changes happening, even bringing about some yourself. But, even if you are interested in becoming involved in politics, how do you even go about it?

Ryan Spears, a World History and AP Government teacher at Rocklin Highschool, took the time to share some insight on students becoming politically involved, emphasizing the importance of

Many people discussed the procedures surrounding voting in this way due to the advent of ballot drop-boxes, as some private citizens took it upon themselves to “guard” the drop boxes against alleged voter fraud, with some even being armed. From outcry against this practice to ardent support, a diversity of reactions resulted in a variety of outcomes. Some states passed legislation to ban drop-boxes all together, while alternatively, some passed protections for drop boxes, like in Arizona where armed protestors are not allowed within 250 ft of drop-boxes.

Change happens through other means

“Find something that you’re interested in and see how the government— see how things are affecting that thing that you’re interested in,” says Spears, “It could be anything, because the government affects everything that there is.”

Whatever the topic is, explore it and find out its place in the world. You might find that politics play a larger role in your life than you realized, and maybe that you’re even more interested in them than you ever thought you would be.

Change starts with those who care, it starts with you.

By: Andrea Paz Sepúlveda Guzmán, Staff Reporter