STREET-wise kids see respect for others as a cornerstone of citizenship - but more than half believe Nike and Microsoft have more influence on their day-to-day lives than the Government.
A fifth claim never to have heard of the European Union, while more than 75 per cent do not understand how Parliament works. But more than half believe voting is important and see it as a duty.
More work should be put into school councils to boost youngsters’ interest in citizenship, according to the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, which commissioned today’s MORI poll of 2,686 11 to 16s. Peter Smith, ATL’s general secretary, said: “There is a danger that young people will become cynical about their role as citizens if they cannot see democratic processes at work in their own lives.”
Secondary schools will have to teach citizenship from this September, and nearly three in five of the English and Welsh youngsters surveyed felt they should be taught how to be a good citizen. Nearly 90 per cent said this meant respecting others, with only a fifth mentioning “having a say in what goes on”.
Professor Bob Worcester, chairman of MORI, said youngsters were not apathetic about politics, but disengaged from the process.
Only 39 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds voted at the last general election compared to 59 per cent of the whole population.
“Young people, and quite a lot of older people up to the age of 45, are effectively saying ‘to hell with it. The politicians don’t listen, they don’t talk about what I want to talk about and neither do the media’,“said Professor Worcester.
Leader, 26
