Historically, a stereotype has developed between college students and activism. One automatically turns to the vast student body of America and beyond to reach the heart of political action, or at least find a group ready to protest in discontent. However, the present has revealed a changing trend. While the majority of college students consider themselves liberal in their views on current politics, a research study has indicated that there is a declining trend in college freshmen being politically active.
According to an article published in The Daily Free Press today, the University of California, Los Angeles conducted a study on approximately 204,000 students spanning 207 colleges. The surveys yielded two different results: an increase in support of same-sex marriage indicated a more liberal view, but simultaneously there was a decrease in the number of students who have participated in political campaigns. Obviously, this brings into question the relationship between students and political activism, and whether incoming college students are actually informed about political complexity that faces our world today.
There has certainly been a level of involvement with the recent emergence of Occupy movements, but regardless of this rise in protest, many students would rather voice their opinions through technological outlets than in physical protest. Given the surge in social networking and media, this outlet has naturally gained popularity as a forum for opinions to be shared. However, it is imperative that students have a basic understanding of policy and a solid foundation of political knowledge to build opinion on. Perhaps it would be worthwhile to provide a compulsory course on political science in order to allow students to gain a better understanding of how politics actually work. Perhaps this will encourage well-informed opinions to circulate, which will in turn promote more political involvement.
With pivotal elections this November, the activity on college campuses will definitely be important. Furthermore, it is crucial that we as a young generation decide to take a more active stance on political issues, because these decisions are going to be the ones that profoundly impact our daily lives. If this downward trend of political involvement persists, we run the risk of falling into an unsettling stereotype of ignorant, lazy college students. It is most certainly in our interest to prove the stereotype wrong.
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