Are young people afraid to speak up?<\/p>\n
Maya Izzard, a high school senior from Philadelphia, said young people want to be more involved in politics and civics, but struggle to feel heard by elected officials.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want a voice we just don\u2019t know how to exactly take that to our own hands. So \u2026 when we see different ways our voices are again taken away \u2026 I am more angry about that. I feel like people don\u2019t really understand that in a way,\u201d she said.\n<\/p>\n
Betman, who grew up in a Democratic-leaning household, said many young Republicans are afraid of voicing their opinions. He said his parents are supportive of him, but he believes that young Republicans often face scrutiny for their political views.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cYoung people are scared to stand out. Young voters are scared that they\u2019re going to upset others, that they\u2019re going to [be] alienated, especially Republican voters. I think that\u2019s the real reason why people don\u2019t vote,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n
However, Babouche said she has noticed a change in young people\u2019s willingness to speak up about their opinions. She said that after Trump won the presidential election in 2024, young people are \u201copenly speaking about politics and advocating for what they believe in.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are no longer as afraid to talk about politics. At least, I\u2019m not afraid to talk about politics. Because I think it\u2019s a really necessary component of our society and as young people, we should use our voices,\u201d she said. \u201cI realize that young people are becoming more open to talk about politics and the issues that truly matter to them because, in the end, it is directly affecting them and their future.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Civic education<\/p>\n
For many young people, social media is a primary source of political news. An Associated Press poll<\/a> found that 57% of teens ages 13 to 17 get news from social media daily, while a YouGov survey commissioned by SaySo<\/a> found that 77% of Gen Z get information about the 2026 midterms from online content creators.\n<\/p>\n Babouche said she believes that social media provides young people with new avenues for education. She says that older voters often assume young people are not educated in politics or are being swayed by social media influencers, but she believes the \u201cinterpretation that younger generations are more uneducated or uninterested in politics is completely false because in reality \u2026 young people can become more educated through social media.\u201d\n<\/p>\n Betman says joining the Penn State GOP was a way to remain politically engaged and informed.\n<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know enough about what\u2019s going on and that\u2019s probably the reason why I joined the Republican Party, [it] was to stay informed,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n Izzard prioritizes civic education, saying that many young people feel intimidated or unprepared to cast their first ballots. She advocates for more classes on voter rights and politics. She said that voting is a \u201cbig part of our lives and being thrown into it at 18 is very harsh for young minds.\u201d\n<\/p>\n For Betman, being able to cast his vote in November makes him feel heard.\n<\/p>\n \u201c[It] makes me feel like a real American \u2026 I can cast my own vote and try to make a change, as little as one vote is, I can make that change,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n While he\u2019s still unsure how he will vote, Betman hopes to research the candidates and their policies.\n<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t pay too much attention to smaller votes like for senator or things like that,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m assuming I would do research into each candidate to see which one you know best supports my values. I would presume I\u2019d vote red.\u201d\n<\/p>\n Izzard, too, believes her first vote is a way of taking her future into her own hands.\n<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s really stepping into that part of adulthood that is kind of held over your head like you\u2019ve got to wait 18 years for all this. So, I do think I care about it a lot. Maybe more than the average 17-year-old would at this point, but I think it\u2019s taking a hold of my own future, you know?\u201d she said.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Are young people afraid to speak up? Maya Izzard, a high school senior from Philadelphia, said young people…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":313325,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[25694,28,30,29,61434],"class_list":["post-313324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-elections-2026","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news","tag-youth-voting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=313324"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313324\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/313325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=313324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=313324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=313324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}