Factor to Compel Political Participation: Long-Term Thinking

I found this week's articles to be enlightening and quite surprising since I have always assumed only positive implications of education. The Kam and Palmer article explains how higher education is a proxy for preadult experiences, not necessarily a cause of political participation. Seeing that their results placed a focal point on socialization and the growth of characteristics that can emerge from socialization, similar to what Mark said, maybe we should foster these qualities at an earlier age in primary and secondary schools. Somehow encouraging students to think with a long-term mindset may compel them to be more politically active as they grow up, seeing that people who contemplated going to college (most likely for the long-term benefits of getting a good job, being able to raise a family, etc.) were also ones who were more likely to engage in civic participation (which can foster long-term benefits for those they service, for themselves through voting, for personal fulfillment, etc.). Maybe thinking about the far future is a factor that propels individuals to acquire higher education as well as to participate in the political sphere.

How exactly we are to instill the importance of planning or considering the future is beyond me, but from my personal experiences in high school, we were never told about the long-term benefits our community service hours would create for those we were volunteering for or how they would help ourselves in the long run. It was assumed that the students understood why community service hours were important, but then seeing how individuals would try their best to obtain the easiest types of service or even manipulate household chores to count as service hours prove otherwise. I remember a faculty member being extra generous and giving us double the hours we actually worked to set up for a career fair because the facility had no air conditioning and we were working in a hot and uncomfortable environment. It seems like these required service hours are not taken seriously or given much attention because long-term benefits are not illustrated to show what an impact students can actually make for others and themselves. I feel that this simple change will lead student to think further into the future and maybe compel them to be more politically involved.