How are your older teen/young adult children reacting to the election?

[BertrandRussell]

My 18 year old is incredibly upset- it was his first opportunity to vote and he feel very let down by Corbyn.

We aren't in London. If my dcs were seriously worried I'd be doing my best to reassure them.

DS is relived that JC didn't get in it seem that we are in the minorirty that were genuinely worry how an earth you could offer so much with no firm plan how to pay for it.
This is totally JC fault he got carried away think the more you give away for free the more people would love him and vote for him . Should of just stuck to NHS and public services and he would of walked it.

Australian politics is just as bad, grass isn't greener

This. Complete climate change deniers.

14yo dd is upset and angry. She said that there was a lot of anger in school today. Not surprising really, it's the younger generation who will have to live with the consequences of this election.

My 18 yo son, thinks labours min wage policy was completely unrealistic. He has all his GCSEs passes and Btec A level equivalent qualifications, and had has trouble getting a basic job, due to lack of experience. A high minimum wage would make it even harder for a young person to get their first job.

Well I'm 23 and I don't like the Conservatives. But I like Labour even less. Didn't vote for any of the major parties.

See, I don’t find it remotely funny that your eldest thinks that some people are not worthy of having a vote, BackforGood.

@pearldiver19 - he is very well brought up actually - friends from all sorts of backgrounds and (I should imagine) all political leanings. He is very tolerant of people who are richer than him and look down on the staff in his regular job. He is patient with people who needs things explaining to them. He's a good listener and something of a peacemaker in quite a lot of situations. However some of the comments he has told me about show that some people actually don't know who, or what, they are voting for. I think that is a pretty crucial part of having a vote, tbh. It's not about anyone being born 'not worthy' it's about people understanding what it means if they put their cross here, there, or in one of the other 5 boxes.

This is some of the conversation I've had with my DD today" i think its a discontent with the underlying systems that operate within the older generations, of an outdated nationalism, and dangerous populism, that risk the lives of so many unnecessarily. I think the divide between the generations lies somewhere in that older generations tend to speak from a point of economic privilege and mixing less with people of different backgrounds where certain changes related to austerity don't impact them so greatly, whereas younger people don't stand for the homophobia , class-ism and bigotry that operates and fuels that politics and thinking. Like the fact some of the poorest constituencies in the UK have now changed to the Tories just goes to show how a campaign based around racism can win even if it will worsen the living conditions for the majority that voted for it, cause the media persuaded them to be scared off foreigners. I know thats a very single sided argument and it so so so more nuanced and interconnected than that, but i think it pinnacles for me in that young people are just sad (and angry) to have to grow up in a country run by a government who functions on dividing and subordinating people (You should see the Tories past voting on LGBT issues, like it actually makes me cry when you consider all the progress that has been lost in America, like this is my ability to love someone openly were talking about here) when the alternative, as far from perfect as it would be, would just be so much better for so many people. Like sod the fact we may increase national debt by a little bit more than usual (Cause every government bascially ever has been in deficit) if it means that 130000 people dont die unnecessarily every year, and people can just live and love freely you know."

My eldest worked at a polling station for the first time this year, and that was a bit of an eye opener for him - he now has decided there ought to be some kind of intelligence, or at least knowledge test before you are allowed to vote

I worked in the polling station again this year and I agree. At least five people asked if it was the local elections, because Johnson and Corbyn weren’t on the ballot paper.

It's a bit of a slippery slope though. Because often people think that people who vote differently from them obviously couldn't actually know who, or what they are voting for.

We're not all the brains trust. That doesn't mean that we don't have our values and our beliefs, and that we shouldn't be able to vote accordingly. Unless you and your son don't believe in universal suffrage? And maybe you might want to think about what a backwards step that represents? Whether you're disenfranchised by dint of not owning land, by being black, by being female (or all three), or because you are deemed insufficiently politically savvy (of all the reasons, possibly the hardest or the easiest, frighteningly, to enforce).

This thread is full of classic Mumsnet stealth boasting about politically engaged left wing kids. Funny.

Loads of young people vote Tory! There aren’t that many old people to win all those seats

This was about brexit. This was about labour et al voting against every single deal putvto parliament about brexit. People felt it was anti democratic. No point making new promises when they broke the last one. Each parry said they’d respect the referendum in their last manifestos and the public saw labour vote against brexit each and every time

Even the young could see labours manifesto was ridiculous

Free broadband was the most stupid things I’ve ever read in my life. Who on earth needs free broadband

No, not in London, we live in a safe Tory seat, but ds was campaigning for the nearby marginal. I

Massive jump there mbonsz and couldn't be any further from the truth.
It is more as FamilyofAliens said.

Who on earth needs free broadband

People on benefits who have to apply for a minimum number of jobs a week and manage their benefits online, to think of just one group off the top of my head.

“This thread is full of classic Mumsnet stealth boasting about politically engaged left wing kids. Funny.“

Really? I would feel a failure as a parent if my children weren’t politically engaged. Regardless of viewpoint.

I don't care if they are politically engaged or not. I expect they will be when they are older. They understand politics and the ones who are old enough vote. That's fine afaic

Who needs free broadband? Poor people, that’s who. Who would otherwise be unable apply for jobs, benefits, schools for their children and just generally engage in modern life. Being financially poor shouldn’t also mean being information poor.

So why give me free broadband?! Paying my broadband bill barely registers. I really don't need it to be free.

I don't care if they are politically engaged or not. I expect they will be when they are older.

What makes you think that? The other comment that came up time and time again at the polling station yesterday was “I don’t want to vote for any of them. They’re all a bunch of idiots” - mainly from older people who have clearly never taken the time to find out what each of the parties stands for and most closely matches with their priorities, even if not completely.

They were treating it like a popularity contest. It was infuriating.

What I mean is that by all means give it free but the whole population having it free is wasteful and money better spent

I don’t want to vote for any of them. They’re all a bunch of idiots

What's wrong with thinking that?

DS2 (17) is gutted. He knows he enjoys a very privileged life, that others are suffering through no fault of their own and that they should not have to depend on charity. He is disgusted by the brittle, callous attitude of the Tories.

I’m extraordinarily proud of him.

Trewser what’s wrong with thinking that is that it’s lazy.