h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

What are good ways to encourage young adults to vote? They tend to dismiss these "load of old grey men arguing" on TV and switch off.

My son is 18 and my daughter's bf 19, both are at Uni. I'm trying to point out how relevant it is to them - the potential for jobs when they graduate, the price of beer, and in M's case, as a haemophiliac, the meds provided and health care in general.

Any other ideas?

It's odd to think that students would need motivation to vote. When I was at Uni in the 1980s, they were hotbeds of political activism. If I wanted to go to the Student Union, I had to walk past hordes of people in greatcoats and donkey jackets collecting money for the miners. There were regular and well-supported debates which attracted MPs to come and speak. We had student elections which were largely on Westminster party lines (even if the bloke dressed as a Dalek usually won).

When I was there in the 00s there was very little - they could barely get enough people who cared to run the Union, let alone enough to have to really vote about it. Turnout for elections was practically nil and if I'm honest, I didn't even really notice that they were happening.

After a period of such stability (both in term of party in power and financially) it's going to take a while for young people to realise that a country doesn't run itself, and that political decisions make a diffence. I still barely believe it now - I only just about remember the 1997 election and it's been just one party since then. A large chunk of me rather believes that government is just the icing on the cake of the civil service - deep down nothing changes. I know that that isn't true but I've never seen anything else.

The best thing that will get young people's attention is to actually have a change in parliament, to have change thrust into their lives. When decisions are made that affect them personally (the Lib Dems getting rid of tuition fees (eventually), for example) they'll start to understand why you want your voice heard. Admittedly it won't get their attention for this election, but watch them get fired up for the next one! If, of course, Labour get back in with a majority, this probably won't happen.

Now the elections been called I'm going to float a few ideas in work: see if we can get our own mock election going, get the candidates in or take some of my students to a meeting with the candidates, bussing those eligible to vote to their polling place.

I think if a hung parliament happens, it'd be a good chance to show the lads why they should vote with their conscience on the issues that matter to them and not because of anything else.