Alright, so you know how this goes; we did a project, and now we’re here with a blog, the usual stuff. So, a quick rundown of the project: basically, the project was to convince young people why they should vote. The driving question for the project was: Who Cares? And why bother? We also learned about how politics influence the media in our lives, with an example being a book we read called “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding. We were to take notes, observations, and thoughts into a note journal.

 

I found the book particularly interesting as it explores what happens when a group of boys get stranded on an island. What I liked about the book is the fact that it’s a metaphor for the Cold War, in the sense that two different ideologies develop on this island, and the two leaders vie for ideological control, later leading to conflict. In their fight, one side lights fires, essentially destroying the island, showcasing how the world would be destroyed if the Cold War went hot. Overall, I really enjoyed the book and thought it was a fun way to kickstart our project.

Lord of the Flies Notes 

Moving on, if you want to learn about how the Canadian Government works before you vote, watch this video we made about the government.

Ok, now that you’re all experts in how the Canadian Government works, let me explain a little more. The final product was a 10-minute presentation on why you should vote, with the goal of convincing young people to vote and communicating effectively with them (making the presentation engaging). In the video, we talked about four different political issues that youth would care about. Our group, consisting of myself, Ariane, Brooke, and Cole, picked these four issues: Cost of Living, Post-secondary Cost, Trans Health Rights, and Environmental Issues.

Brainstorming

Moving on to a big question: how did we plan to engage the youth? Make Tik Toks (firework noise and confetti).

I was the one who came up with this idea, with the thought process being that if we’re going to engage young people, what better way to do that than short-form, fast-ish videos that engage teenagers who use Tik Tok, IG Reels, etc.? As I was away during the actual presentation, I don’t really know how smoothly the idea was executed, but based on the feedback forms, it seemed to have gone well.

Feedback Forms

The four issues for youth were the most challenging to keep short because we had to talk about the parties and where they stand, as well as describe the issues. My issue was fairly simple, as the cost of living is a very pertinent issue that was easy to find information about. One part that I could have improved on was being more neutral, as I leaned a little towards the PPC. That would be an overall group improvement as PPC hate was a common theme, and we shouldn’t be influencing who to vote for.

Moving on, the best thing to come out of this project was I got the opportunity to utilize creative thinking when brainstorming the Tik Tok skits. It was also fun to record them because I like doing that sort of thing. I definitely could have done more to help edit them as I only edited my one political issue Tik Tok and not any other ones. Another thing was I don’t like taking notes and such when reading; I really prefer to just read a book and make the connections afterward. The reason for this is when I read and annotate, I find I don’t retain anything from the book at all, and that is definitely something I need to work on in the future.

I really liked this group as they are people I generally don’t work with that much; everyone contributed, and when tasks were delegated, they were completed. I felt as though we could have done a better job of dividing up a task such as the editing of the Tik Toks.

Overall, my feelings on the project are mostly positive. I enjoyed learning about the Canadian government and how voting works. It was really interesting to look at all the parties and see which ones I line up with the most; it caused some internal reflection about myself and my worldview, which is always difficult.

Now, why should you care or bother with voting? Well, I like to come to this point but voting is a privilege, not a right. Some in other countries either can’t vote or their “voting” isn’t really voting. By not voting when able to, you’re giving up your right to choose and a right to democracy. Another reason to care is elections and political parties are basically a bunch of people on the Bachelor/Bachelorette trying to get the rose (your vote), and it’s fun to see the promises and advertisements they make in order to do this.

Growing up now, it’s apparent how convoluted stuff can be in society, whether through mainstream news coverage or independent thoughts. It’s overwhelming and can feel like we don’t matter. Understanding how the Canadian Government works is daunting, as it’s different from how our more well-known southern neighbors vote (USA) and is more complex, causing some not to bother educating themselves and making informed decisions. There is also significant pressure on our generation to fix the previous generations’ mistakes like Climate Change. However, senior citizens make up one of the highest voting demographics, which to some, makes change seem unlikely as their views often differ from ours. In fact, my brother, who turned 19 some months ago, says, “I’m not going to vote because it’s too much work, and I’m busy with school.” For real change to come, voting needs to be easier and more accessible if we want the younger generations to vote.

Anyways go buy an egg noodle.