As students, our voices can be powerful. They can strengthen human rights movements, achieve University divestments, and bring down political careers. But all too often our voices are held captive by those who ought to be listening. We’re dismissed as naive, foolish, and immature. We’re overlooked because, after all, what would we know, we’re only young? The truth, however, is that today’s youth are tomorrow’s future. Our voices matter, and the government should do more to listen.
A few weeks ago, the Cherwell team and I were working on a story about Oxford offer holders stranded in Gaza. We’d written on this topic previously and this time I was particularly keen to get a comment from the Home Office – here began my ‘battle’ with His Majesty’s Government.
Over the course of two weeks, I was spun through a messy web of mis-truths. It all started with my first phone call to the Home Office where a press officer emphasised that it wasn’t policy to speak with students, saying that I should write: “The Home Office declined to comment”. So I did just that. But our conversation piqued my interest. I wanted to know why he wouldn’t speak to a student journalist.
I went back and forth several times with press officers from the Home Office and the Department for Education. After countless phone calls I was left frustrated, annoyed and, most crucially, ignored. Frustrated because I’d been lied to (in reality, no such policy existed); annoyed because I’d been messed around; and ignored because my questions remained unanswered.
The reality is that the press officers that I spoke to didn’t take me seriously because I was young. They didn’t get back to me because they didn’t think it mattered. But it does matter – it should matter. Not only because I was writing about a hugely important issue, offer holders stranded in Gaza, but because Cherwell matters, students matter, young people matter.
We might be a student paper, but that’s not to say that we write about trivial issues. Our readership comprises some of the country’s greatest minds.
The great plague of politics is that today’s decisions don’t just impact the here and now, they impact the world for many generations to come. So when our voices are ignored by governments, when we are held captive by those who are meant to listen, we lose out on an opportunity to shape policies which will profoundly affect our futures.
Some weeks after my ‘battle’ a new society emerged on Oxford’s political scene. Founded by students Esme Thompson and Callum Turnbull, the ‘Your Party Society’ was inspired by Jeremy Corbyn and Zara Sultana’s alliance. It was founded because of a feeling that the Oxford Labour Club hadn’t done a good enough job of holding the government accountable. I reached out to Your Party, as well as other Oxford political societies, to better understand their thoughts on the value of young voices. Callum was the only one kind enough to respond.
He told me that “people look at what’s going on in Oxford very closely”, adding that “there’s a strong understanding that student voices do have power, but I think that’s treated with fear more so than respect. There’s more of an attitude of ‘we need to control what’s being said’ rather than an attitude of ‘we need to listen and have a dialogue’”.
Hearing Callum’s perspective was fascinating, not only because he’s deeply involved in student politics, but because, unlike me, he was so positive about the opportunity facing young people. Our conversation covered everything from lowering the voting age, which Callum told me was a purely “political move”, to Warwickshire’s 19 year-old Council Leader, George Finch.
Reflecting on young people in politics – including Keir Mather MP, the youngest Minister since William Gladstone – Callum said: “I do think there’s space now for young people across the political spectrum to be listened to and voted for, because there’s a lot of anger about how young people have been treated over the last ten, fifteen years.
“Whether that pulls you to Reform, or whether that pulls you to the left, it all stems from that same anger. There’s anger from young people because they want to get involved, because they want to change things.”
Someone who shares this anger is ‘Anna’ (not her real name), a student activist and member of Oxford Action for Palestine (OA4P). I asked if she thought her activism was taken seriously. “Somewhat,” she said. “I think the University and the government see us as a nuisance and less of a threat. If we were taken seriously I feel some change would have happened already.
“I say somewhat because I think together they do see us as a threat but it takes a lot for a large group to consistently organise and rise together.”
Similar to my conversation with Callum, I was curious whether Anna felt the government cared about the voices of young people. She said yes, “theoretically” the government “cares about young people and their futures and opinions. However, when you look at their response to any dissent or criticism, the government’s response is careless and hostile.” She added that “a prime reason for consistent protests and direct action is to get the government to listen.”
When I asked her if she felt respected, Anna said “I feel neither respected nor heard, but that doesn’t matter. It’s not the goal. The goal is to hold the government and institutions accountable irrespective of how they feel about me or fellow student activists.”
Anna might be right. Perhaps the goal isn’t merely being heard, but exercising our right to speak up for what we believe in – to speak truth to power, to better our futures, and to hold institutions to account. But even still, that doesn’t mean that we should be overlooked.
As young people, our votes and our voices matter. We might be young, but we’re not stupid. Callum doesn’t believe we’re ignored, but controlled. Anna doesn’t protest for attention but for action. And I don’t write stories for fun, but because I believe in the truth. Our voices matter, and the government ought to do more to listen.
That starts with dialogue instead of fear, respect instead of apathy, and honesty instead of lies. Today’s youth are tomorrow’s future. It’s about time we were treated as such.
