Build young people as the great citizens in the future

Build young people as the great citizens in the future

The meaning of democracy is often controversial in among activist. In many discussions to solve the problems, people have resisted a full of democracy because it often provoked heated, even angry, debate. Talk democracy inevitably reaches the subject of citizenship because if democracy is genus name, the citizenship is the species name. The essence of citizenship in my opinion is the right to communicate with policymaker or government and get involved in development of their country with protection from law, not only users or choosers. Beside that as citizens we should give our respect to others citizens right and respect to law in our country.

Citizenship is learned through education, socialization, exposure to politics, public life, and day-to-day experiences. Promoting active citizenship among people who have been marginalized from politics is not a straightforward task. Citizenship does not just happen naturally in response to increased public space or political opportunity. Citizenship is more than voting or fulfilling public obligations. It is not only choosing corrupt officials in parliament and using the broken system. Citizenship involves making, shaping, supervise and reform the system’s structures and rules if the system or rules is not prejudiced for citizens in the country.

In Indonesia, the number of citizens who’s not uses their right to vote the leader of province, especially in east java as the big population province in Indonesia, have significant portion until 50 %. This phenomenon show to us if our citizens are not wanted to get involved in development even as choosers their leader. Research shows that people have become cynical about their elected representatives who often seem distant and out of touch with the wishes of their communities, that’s explain why citizens choose abstain from leader voting.

We can find many students organization in Indonesia like OSIS (organisasi intra sekolah) this is an internal organization that build by junior high school until senior high school and BEM (Badan Eksekutif Mahasiswa) that build by students in university and many others organization build out from their school. All of this organization always get great barrier when they want to protest or express their aspiration in government. Sometimes they do street protest, theatrical action in street, stop feeding action until seven or more days, and some anarchies action. Sometimes this action become tragedy with student killed in that action but the government never heard their wants. Watch this incidents government and students or young citizens never discuss how to solve this problem until find more polite and accepted ways for young citizens to express their aspirate and make them participate constructively in the governance process.

In Indonesia there are too much law that manage the citizens in democracy process but why their citizens aspiration never heard by the government. The government allows their citizens to show their aspiration or their opinion with discussion, demonstration or street protest or procession with law. It means before they disturb traffic they should announce everything about their plan in demo to police station.

These street protest actions always disturb the right of the other like street users. For example making the traffic so crowded, anarchism in the street like they burn mass transmit or burn motor cycle until burn a department vehicle, broken the general facility, even more these demonstration become killing arena like a demonstration in legislative parliament in province of North Sumatra. The leader of parliament was killed in that action.

If we look the general election to choose president in Indonesia, parliament members election, the leader of province even the leader of the city election we will find campaign tactics of political parties also make use of the road in organizing parades, motorcades, and motorcycle convoys to dominate the road. This campaign always disturbs traffic and sometimes become anarchist its show to us that our citizen education or knowledge about how to respect right the others is lack enough. If we watch the accident in television news almost of the demonstrator is young people that have lack skills to communicate with policymaker. If we educate our young people how to show their ideas, opinion or their critics in a good ways and more polite, that incidents will not happened.

Politics arena is not an activity for adults or party politics only but the young guns must have similar chance to get involved in the democratic life of their communities. Government must obeys and give great attention to the young generation because development of the country is continuous cycles where the young will be replace the old. In Indonesia young people have not yet taken their rightful place in the political sphere.  By this we mean that young people in our country do not presently play the role that they should in government, political debate, and other decision-making, either at local, national, or international level because our government is fulfilling by the oldest people that never heard their junior and always think their self is the best of the best citizen because always choose as elected people in every democracy party.

However governance is come from citizens. To make a good government that will bring good governance, we must build knowledge, skills, competencies, and attitude our young citizens as the next leader of us. The citizens and good government can connect with many ways. Government can accept aspirations, critics, advice and opinion from their people. After that they obey and try to find solutions. Regional or local problems must be solved by local governance and if not find solution they can bring it in the next level of governance so it becomes multistage governance. As an acceptor of aspiration, government should build aspiration channel for citizen to make journey of aspiration so easier. Citizens and their government do their function well with respect right of the other. Citizens should evaluate their government’s including parliament members work and have a right to say critics or advice for them or change parliament members and government if the person didn’t works better like citizens wants because governance in democracy country is come from citizens and for citizens.

There are five programs according to me to develop a sense of citizenship in young people and help them realize their role in a democratic society. This program should be held together because build sense of citizenship is need holistic approach. In this program teamwork’s between citizens an government is very important things to create sense of citizenship our citizen since they are young.

First making young people like students since in preschool with involving them in decision making, involved in evaluating their teamwork and educate students since in elementary school to become politically aware and to be able to take a part and active in decision making in their lives through citizenship curriculum since elementary school. This curriculum is very important for them to learning about citizenship and this is important as starting point in prepare young people with the knowledge and understanding of their function in civil society, community and/or political life characterized by mutual respect and non-violence and in accordance with human rights and democracy, skills, competencies, attitude, values and confidence to participate as active citizens and agents of change. The role of formal citizenship education since preschool must not be under estimated, as part of the lack of engagement with Parliament and the democratic process is due to a reduction in society’s and its citizen’s trust of politicians.  

Second is build mini parliament from elementary school until university level as media for students to learnt democracy by practical activities beside their theory in class with their teacher, their peers even more with professional like parliament members to give an outline of local policies, listen to issues that students would like to raise and answer student’s questions. In this mini parliament student as parliament member should make student research about their environment problems, discuss how to solve the problems, try to present their discussion result to the others, doing the result and at the end they should evaluate that. After build a mini parliament in every school, government should the next level like build city, province until national parliament for young people. In this case they are not attend their meeting everyday, they can use friendship site or mailis in internet as a media to communicate with the others or distribute their paper to the others members of parliament, because they should study everyday as student’s. This way is very effective remember daily activities of students now that full everyday.

Third is Government must give opportunities for students to get involved in their activities to solve community problems or to make a new law. This student who joins in this discussion is from the leader of students or young organization like mini parliament members that bring their peers aspiration. Involving young people in discussion or debate with the elected members of city parliament until national parliament can enriched the skills and opportunity young people to communicate with policymakers and get involved in their country’s development. Beside that this action can keeps away young people from their lack of familiarity with political institutions and how the system works when they participate in democracy.

Fourth is Cooperate with mass media like newspaper to give special column for young people, to express their theory or practice that they get in school curriculum to give politics perception, critics for governance process, law, even more critics and their hope for president with their essays or articles. Cooperate with radio or television to make program to develop a sense of citizenship in young people. We choose newspaper, television and radio as first media that connect youth and oldest citizen because the older are most likely to use more traditional news sources such as newspapers and television, so the argument from young will be heard and read by their senior in government. The last media that I think is very special to build sense of confidence in citizenship is stimulating our young people to make network with their peer through internet. In this case, youth can use some popular or famous friendship sites in their community like facebook or friendster as a media to learn and involved in political process, beside that they can promote to their peers to actively participate in the governance process, develop and express their ideas into country’s development. This program is so crucial to make young citizens to be able to present an idea in written form in a newspaper and orally by radio or television to persuade another person using argument in a public forum.

Fifth is the government should think to reform their parliament composition with fulfilling not only with oldest people but give enough portion for young people including students in university, student in senior high school as an elected members in national parliament. Why it is so important? If we look young people portions in Indonesia, we will get a lot of young age wants to participate in this country development. We know that they have lighting of a fire in their heart, sometimes more than the oldest, to develop this broken country but the government still disable and disengage them in the development process. If we look track record of the oldest government in Indonesia which full with corrupt and dirty political practice. We hope that if governments give radical change with this opinion our country will go to better governance in the future.

According to the explanation above, to develop sense of citizenship or make the citizens more active in development of their country need a holistic approach through education since elementary school, build a democracy media like a mini parliamentary to develop citizens skills, involving young citizens to solve community problems in regional parliament forum, give opportunity young citizens to express their opinion  and active in country development through special column in newspaper, special programs like debate or discussion about community problem. Make friendship sites like facebook or friendster as discuss forum, campaign forum for the oldest and the young, to distribute citizenship paper is a new ways to blooming spirit to actively in democracy for young citizens. We hope that it becomes the most popular way to make our young people obeys country’s problems. The last way is give enough proportion chairs for the young in national parliament through general election. That’s all the ways to make them more active in governance better than before.

                                                                           Arif Rahman Nurdianto,dr.,M.Imun