Student Political Activism: Where Has it Gone?

The 1960s showcased the emergence of college students as a politically active group for one of the first times in American society.

As author and sociologist David Chalmers explains, "the university itself was seen as servant, symbol, and battleground for what was wrong in national life."

While student political activism has decreased substantially since the 1960s, college students are still an influential piece in forming the political landscape of contemporary American society.

However, universities today in the United States fail to create an effective political class composed of college students for several reasons.

College students today do not represent an effective political class as they once did in the 1960s. One major reason for this perspective is the lack of student participation in politics on a local and national level.

For example, despite numerous advertisements and organizations calling for students and young citizens to vote in the 2004 presidential election, turnout rates were still low on the whole.

In the 2000 presidential election, even fewer college students showed up at the polls to vote. Many continue to claim that youth voter turnout has consistently been a problem in our political system.

In some sense, voting is the only way that every citizen is allowed to actively affect the polity in America.

Still, many students choose not to take an active role in politics in some form or another.

One reason for this decision is due to the fact that many college students do not have a general interest in politics, partially because they do not believe that the policies that the government implements actually affect their own personal actions and decisions.

Most college students do not pay taxes or contribute in another way to our government. Thus, many do not see themselves as part of a larger political landscape.

Consequently, students currently at universities throughout the United States are not as unified as they once were in the 1960s because they do not share a collective interest in the political issues that currently surround our country.

Another reason that college students do not hold an active role in politics is the amount of knowledge that they actually have to understand the issues at hand.

Many current students at universities lack a clear understanding about the workings of American government and politics. For others, political decisions should be left for politicians and other qualified officials to debate and resolve.

Moreover, student participation has also decreased because the issues that remain pertinent today do not the same significance as the Civil Rights Movement or the Vietnam War draft. That is, students today remain fairly apathetic about such current issues such as the war in Iraq, same-sex marriage and social security.

On the other hand, college students during the 1960s became much more involved in politics due to the nature of events that surfaced.

The future implications of the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War draft were much greater than tax cuts for the wealthy or the current state of healthcare. Because both the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War draft severely impeded the rights of those attending universities across the board, students felt the need to have their voice heard on issues that directly affected their future.

Furthermore, the events of the Civil Rights Movement pushed college students to become more involved in politics throughout the rest of the decade.

As Richard Peterson states, "Civil rights experience in the South could provide students with a set of proven techniques, a kind of tactical style, that could be used in protesting a variety of situations-both on campus as well as off campus."

As a result, the lessons and experiences from the Civil Rights Movement taught college students how to become politically active and stand up for their rights as seen in the Berkeley revolt of 1964. Soon after, the teach-in became a tactic that students and faculty at college campuses were using to justify their stance on the Vietnam War.

Even though college students currently might not act as an effective political class, they should be engaged in political affairs to some degree. Students should not be expected to be as involved in politics as those during the 1960s, but it is still important that the youth of this country has a say in what laws and restrictions the United States government establishes for the entire governing body.

As citizens of America, college students are equally responsible for the political makeup of the country. Without the representation of university students, alternative perspectives and ideas may not be considered for implementation.

It is important that our government hears the concerns of each citizen and helps resolve any such issues that permeate into American society.

One reason that makes college students untrustworthy is their youth and inexperience in understanding the reasons why government implements certain policies and regulations. Many adults do not trust young college students to make political decisions about issues, such as social security and healthcare, which might not affect them as directly or immediately as those considered to be a part of the older population.

Because college students nowadays do not make an effort to actively participate in politics, the amount of real-world experience in politics that they have is, for the most part, limited. Thus, the opinions and judgments of most college students are strictly ideological.

In addition, ever since the emergence of youth culture and the counterculture in the 1960s, America has never been a country that has trusted its youth, particularly in the political realm. The perception that students accept radical, anarchical views creates a great sense of distrust between younger and older generations. The 1960s has negatively impacted the reputation of college students as acceptable and legitimate political participants.

Although the United States may continue to never fully trust the opinions of college students, college students who become more politically active and educated over time can gradually become more trustworthy as political actors in the eyes of some if not most.

Overall, if college students can learn to become involved in politics on the national or local level, the amount of trust that Americans can grant them will be considerably increased.