Do you think politics should be made a compulsory subject in secondary education?

Politics is very boring (in my opinion) so no, its not a good idea to impose it on pupils.

There you go.

Not ideology, but basic politics and economics. People need to know how the system works. I asked my parents about this and they said it used to be an O level subject called Civics.

When I went with my mum to vote in May, a woman looked at her ballot and exclaimed loudly "Why isn't David Cameron on here!?" and the person told her that she could only vote for local candidates... she didn't even know what party Cameron was in, but the guy said Conservatives so she voted for them... firstly I bet she couldn't tell me a single Conservative policy, and had probably never seen the Tory candidate for our constituency. In all honesty, it made me think "Why can she vote when I can't?" (I'm under eighteen).

Since that happened, I've strongly advocated a basic, compulsory GCSE course making sure that people at least know what they're voting for. Otherwise, how is it even valid? You can't say that that woman's vote should have had equal weighting with an informed decision, can you?

Its a stupid suggestion. People make all kinds of decisions in their life such as on health, food, education, marriage and children.

Should they go on a course everytime they want to know if they should eat spuds or rice?

Not ideology, but basic politics and economics. People need to know how the system works. I asked my parents about this and they said it used to be an O level subject called Civics.

When I went with my mum to vote in May, a woman looked at her ballot and exclaimed loudly "Why isn't David Cameron on here!?" and the person told her that she could only vote for local candidates... she didn't even know what party Cameron was in, but the guy said Conservatives so she voted for them... firstly I bet she couldn't tell me a single Conservative policy, and had probably never seen the Tory candidate for our constituency. In all honesty, it made me think "Why can she vote when I can't?" (I'm under eighteen).

Since that happened, I've strongly advocated a basic, compulsory GCSE course making sure that people at least know what they're voting for. Otherwise, how is it even valid? You can't say that that woman's vote should have had equal weighting with an informed decision, can you?

Not ideology, but basic politics and economics. People need to know how the system works. I asked my parents about this and they said it used to be an O level subject called Civics.

When I went with my mum to vote in May, a woman looked at her ballot and exclaimed loudly "Why isn't David Cameron on here!?" and the person told her that she could only vote for local candidates... she didn't even know what party Cameron was in, but the guy said Conservatives so she voted for them... firstly I bet she couldn't tell me a single Conservative policy, and had probably never seen the Tory candidate for our constituency. In all honesty, it made me think "Why can she vote when I can't?" (I'm under eighteen).

Since that happened, I've strongly advocated a basic, compulsory GCSE course making sure that people at least know what they're voting for. Otherwise, how is it even valid? You can't say that that woman's vote should have had equal weighting with an informed decision, can you?

Definitely. I think they need to get rid of R.E and incorporate it into a wider course which covers British and [the basics of] international politics, basic religious education and a basic education of the law system. Providing they don't call it citizenship (That instantly stops people taking it seriously), I think given 3-4 hours a week it would be taken seriously and brighten our kids alot.

I've thought this for quite a long time and interested to hear other peoples opinions on it.

As a nation we seem to be very poorly educated on the actual workings of our own political system and the general beliefs of the political parties that fight to govern our country. It seems strange to me that the very basis in which our country operates is almost completely left out of compulsory education?
Surely if we add say, a once a week politics class for all year 10 & 11 students, we as a nation will become much more politically abled resulting in people making real informed decisions when they vote.
Obviously there will be obstacles to face, like creating a curriculum that isn't politically biased to certain parties and acquiring funding. But really, the benefits in my mind far out weigh the negatives.

As a nation we seem to be very poorly educated on the actual workings of our own political system and the general beliefs of the political parties that fight to govern our country.

It seems strange to me that the very basis in which our country operates is almost completely left out of compulsory education?

Surely if we add say, a once a week politics class for all year 10 & 11 students, we as a nation will become much more politically abled resulting in people making real informed decisions when they vote.

Obviously there will be obstacles to face, like creating a curriculum that isn't politically biased to certain parties and acquiring funding. But really, the benefits in my mind far out weigh the negatives.