Politics in the National Curriculum is a must

Politics needs to be taught in schools from the age of 11 onwards as a compulsory subject. If we want to start engaging the population in political discussion in a bid to defeat the tide of apathy, we need to get people involved at an early age. Teaching children the basics at the start – the history of the vote (Chartists, Suffragettes), how our system works, how the EU works, different types of political beliefs and so on – would ensure that we don’t have a wave of ignorance towards our democratic system and politics in general. Pupils, once they have the background knowledge of the ‘way it works’, can debate with each other about current affairs. This will, guided by a teacher as a mediator, help children to learn about all sides of an argument, allowing an informed opinion. It would quash extremism, because extremist belief is based around ignorance or bigotry – both on the left and right.

Getting kids fired up about current affairs rather than celebrity or sports gossip is essential to our future as a country. If we can create a system whereby we get a generation of politically informed adults, whose opinions have foundations in core knowledge of politics and an understanding of the opposing views, we’d find ourselve in a much more progressive society, free from the intolerance and bigotry that plagues us today.