.jpg)
There are two important key words connected with the topic of democracy and youth, and they are education and participation.
Both of these concepts are an essential part of a democratic society: if the education about democracy and the participation of every citizen in a country are not strong enough, the democracy will be less stable and more vulnerable.
Education is necessary to protect this delicate social system, especially today when young people are slowly losing their faith in democratic governments and they are often looking for some new and more exiting political system, attracted by strong leaders and by the hope in a fast change.
In a large sociological study, in 2016, one of the most important members of World Values Survey showed the increase of the number of young people in Europe and in USA who thinks that democracy is no longer the best social system possible; on the other side the idea of an authoritarian regime or of a military government attracts every year more people as a fast and fair solution.
That’s why, in order to protect democracy, we need to start from education.
The school system has an important role in this. There are many ways to educate about democracy, for instance through history, by studying different kinds of political systems and their impacts on society; but probably the most relevant thing is teaching the importance of the active participation, which includes being informed about the political situation of the country, being able to analyse facts independently and increasing a critical thinking.
To be involved in a democratic system means first of all to be aware of the role that everybody as a citizen has in a society and the school itself can be a good example of a democracy system, based on participation and common interest.
In a political system in which every citizen has the right and the duty of participation, a crucial instrument is the critical thinking. It is important to learn, again starting from school, how to develop individual and independent ideas and how to avoid to be driven by the predominate thought.
Critical thinking includes also the ability to distinguish information from propaganda, to analyse media communication and news media policies and to use social media in a mindful way. Media have always been used as a instrument of power and control, especially by authoritarian regimes, since they can have a massive influence in people and in the common view of the political situation of a country.
Therefore education is again an essential tool: media must be, on the contrary, an instrument of information and they should help us to increase our critical thinking and independent judgment. Today we can get information and news from many and different media. We have the opportunity to compare, to go more into details, to exchange points of view through social media. This is a chance for everyone to be an active and better informed citizen and to support democracy.