We live in a land of extremes. On the one hand, at nearly every level of public debate, one can hear that young people are our future. There is constant talk of the need to invest in education, support young people’s development and create more opportunities for them. Political programs, national strategies and local government projects often emphasize the importance of involving young people.
At the same time, another picture exists alongside this one. In conversations with people who work with young people, one can often hear sighs that today’s youth supposedly do not care about anything, have no real interests and are difficult to engage in public life. Sometimes young people are even described as a generation that prefers phone screens, social media and entertainment to genuine participation in society.
This contradiction is not confined to any one region. It can be observed both in the capital and in smaller towns. What’s more, it is often in smaller places that one encounters active and enterprising young people who simply have a harder time finding opportunities to put their ideas into practice.
But are today’s young people really as passive as they are often believed to be?
Young people participate differently
One reason why the perception of young people as passive persists is that we often understand the word “politics” too narrowly. When political engagement is discussed, people usually have voting, party politics or participation in official political structures in mind. In a broader sense, however, politics means participating in public life, discussing issues of common concern and seeking to influence the development of society.
When politics is viewed from this perspective, it quickly becomes clear that young people are far from indifferent to what is happening around them. They care about the future of the country in which they themselves will live. They are concerned about issues such as education, the environment, social justice and equal opportunities. Their ways of participating simply often differ from those to which older generations are accustomed.
Research conducted in recent years shows that young people’s participation in public life has not disappeared but has instead changed its form. Studies of youth political participation in Europe, for example, show that young people are less likely to take part in traditional party politics but are much more frequently involved in other forms of civic engagement, such as organizational activities, campaigns and grassroots initiatives.
Young people take part in volunteer projects, sign petitions, participate in public campaigns and initiatives, support social projects and are active in youth organizations. For them, having the opportunity to influence specific issues and see tangible results from their efforts is important. This is also confirmed by European youth studies.
According to the Eurobarometer, a significant share of young people in Europe are interested in social and public issues and are willing to participate in activities aimed at changing society, including volunteering, grassroots initiatives and the work of organizations.
Participation is therefore very much alive, even if it does not always take place through familiar institutional channels.
The smartphone as the new forum of public debate
Another common argument often made about young people is the claim that they cannot put their phones down. But perhaps it is worth looking at this from a different angle. For today’s youth, the internet and social media are important sources of information and it is through digital platforms that they learn about events in the world. It is there that they discuss social issues and form their opinions.
Social media has become a kind of modern public forum — a place where people can express their views, debate current issues and support various initiatives. For many young people, it is also an environment where they feel more confident than in traditional public discussions, which are often dominated by adults.
Interestingly, while discussions continue about young people’s supposed passivity, Estonia is creating an increasing number of structures aimed at involving them in decision-making processes. There are youth councils, student councils and various advisory bodies attached to government institutions and local governments.
At both the national and local government levels, the importance of youth participation is frequently emphasized. But a closer look raises an important question: where do young people actually have real decision-making power? In practice, such examples can be counted on the fingers of one hand.
For example, the Tallinn Youth Council operates in the capital as a representative body for young people attached to the Tallinn City Council. Its task is to represent young people’s views and participate in discussions on issues affecting them.
At the same time, this body’s actual role in the decision-making process is limited. The Youth Council serves in an advisory capacity and has speaking rights only on the City Council’s Education Committee. It is an important and valuable platform for expressing young people’s views, but it also illustrates that the path toward meaningful participation in decision-making remains fairly limited.
Why is there still talk of ‘passive youths’?
Interestingly, a number of studies show that the perception of young people as passive is often linked not so much to an actual lack of participation as to the way young people are portrayed in public debate. Research on media coverage of youth shows that they are often described as apathetic, lazy or indifferent to public life, even though the reality is far more diverse. Moreover, when young people do actively participate — for example, in protests or civic initiatives — their involvement is sometimes met with skepticism or even condescension.
This creates a paradox: when young people do not participate, they are labeled apathetic and when they do participate, their engagement is called into question.
Perhaps one of the defining characteristics of today’s youth is that they do not always seek to make loud political statements. Many changes take place quietly and gradually instead. Young people create initiatives, launch projects, volunteer and come together around specific ideas and issues. They often prefer practical action to grand political slogans.
Young people remain deeply interested in the future of their country; their path to bringing about change simply often runs through other forms of engagement, such as volunteering, grassroots initiatives, projects and public campaigns.
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