This guest blog from the Electoral Commission outlines Welcome to Your Vote Week.
This week is Welcome to Your Vote Week, an annual event run by the Electoral Commission with schools and youth groups to celebrate democracy. The theme this year is ‘get informed and get involved’, which highlights the importance of supporting young people to access trustworthy information to get informed about politics, democracy and elections, and to take the first steps to get involved locally.
We have been hearing for a long time that children and young people want to have more conversations about politics in school and learn about trustworthy sources of information. So, to mark the beginning of the week, we launched a new research report – Young Voices on Democracy: What they know and what they need – at an event at Parliament. The report explores young people’s knowledge and attitudes towards politics, democracy and voting, and provides a platform for their voices to be heard.
The research, carried out with people aged 11 to 25, found that nearly three quarters of those surveyed (72%) wanted to be taught more about politics in school. While most young people hear about politics from TV or social media, they have concerns about whether to trust the information. Young people said they considered schools and colleges to be more trusted environments for learning about politics, but only a third of 11 – 17-year-olds had heard about politics at school in the last year. This clearly shows that if young people are to engage in elections, there is a clear value and appetite for them to learn more, especially since the UK Government has committed to lowering the voting age to 16.
We were delighted to talk about the importance of a democratic education at our event, attended by members of our Youth Voice network, partner organisations and parliamentarians, including the Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle.
The vital work we do at the Electoral Commission could not be done without our Youth Voice Network. These young people share their experience, ideas and feedback to support the Electoral Commission to ensure its education work is meaningful and impactful. As well as playing a leading role in Welcome to Your Vote Week, our youth voice champions also helped shape the survey questions behind the new research report.
But the work does not stop there. To support future generations to have the confidence and knowledge to participate in elections, the Electoral Commission has recently called for changes to the curriculum in England. We have recommended that all young people have the opportunity to learn more about democracy at school and that educators are supported to deliver effective democratic education.
No matter the week, there are many ways children, young people and educators can get involved year-round. Find out more about Welcome to Your Vote Week and access our new education resources exploring mis- and disinformation and local politics on our website.
