David Lu, a senior accounting major, is techno-savvy with his cell phone, laptop, extra monitor, a playing "The Simpsons" episode and an open Gmail box.
It's no wonder that our generation has been nicknamed the "Millenials," the "Echo Boomers," or even "Generation Why?" Although some sources vary, the Millenial generation includes roughly people who were born between 1977 and 2000. We grew up with computers, cell phones, and technology that is pushing the limits of instantaneous information further than ever before. We witnessed the shock of September 11 as youth, we survived the Y2K fears, and we really only remember a Bush or a Clinton in the White House. More of us are graduating from college and have more tolerance for ethnic diversity and equal opportunities.
It's no wonder that our generation has been nicknamed the "Millenials," the "Echo Boomers," or even "Generation Why?" Although some sources vary, the Millenial generation includes roughly people who were born between 1977 and 2000. We grew up with computers, cell phones, and technology that is pushing the limits of instantaneous information further than ever before. We witnessed the shock of September 11 as youth, we survived the Y2K fears, and we really only remember a Bush or a Clinton in the White House. More of us are graduating from college and have more tolerance for ethnic diversity and equal opportunities.
But exactly who are we to the political strategists of the Obama and McCain presidential campaigns?
TIME magazine dubbed the year 2008 as the "Year of the Youth Vote," and NPR broadcasted a feature on the role technology plays into youth political involvement. >>Listen to "Technology Transforms Youth Vote in 2008 Election."
CIRCLE, the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, studies the political participation of Americans between 15 and 25 years old. The web site offers a wealth of statistics and reliable data collected over the past 30 years on voter turnout and trends.
I gathered some basic facts from CIRCLE and flipped them into a graph:
Voter Turnout Among Citizens in 2000 and 2004 Presidential Elections
Making sense of the graph: It's pretty obvious that voter turnout has increased in all of the presented age groups, but the largest jump by far is in the youngest age group. In 2000, 36 percent of 18- to 24-year-old people voted. There was an 11 percent increase to the next election in 2004.
The CIRCLE web site contains other resourceful reports that are crucial to understanding the behaviors of the youth generation. Some other topics you might want to check out:
- Youth attitudes and beliefs
- Youth demographics
- Television consumption & political participation
- Two-year vs. Four-year college educations
- Civic Knowledge
1 comment:
For this blog post, I took an original photo, created an info graphic and wrote 340 words. This is my second post for the week (I also did spot news + 2 original photos), as well as a widget. I think I knocked out several items on the checklist :]
Post a Comment