Off to the polls: our teenagers are going to vote!
It was a long time ago when I went to a federal ballot box with my parents for the first time. We filled in the ballot papers together at the kitchen table and then neatly folded them and slid them into the slot of the metal box. Accompanied by a feeling of pride and finally being an adult.
Initially, my votes were light years away from those of my parents; I had leaned very far left out of the window, while my parents sat in the parlour in an agonisingly liberal bourgeois mood. I was in favour of joining the EU, I didn't just want to sound out the borders, I wanted to open them up. A Europe for all!
And then loudly slammed the door shut. I didn't understand my father's arguments in favour of Switzerland at all. I put the opposite of my parents in the ballot box for almost every election. Rebellious progressive versus staid conservative. When it was just me and my father voting, because my mother sometimes refused to vote, we'd try to get the better of each other and I'd flatten his Yes vote with my No vote. That was great fun.
Now our little daughter has also come of age, one and a half years after her brother. One or two votes are already behind her. Of course, we also discuss the climate at the kitchen table. It now also influences the same within our four walls. For example, the father is being forced to buy CO2 certificates for his large-volume midlife crisis vehicle.
Youtube and easyvote instead of newspapers
But now that our young people can vote for the National Council and Council of States for the first time, i.e. our representatives, their interest is limited for the time being. And yet, as parents, we believe that this election is very important for the future of our son and daughter. «To get an idea,» we lecture, «you need newspapers and discussions on TV or at the family dinner table.» «Nope,» replies the son, «if we feel like it, we'll watch the relevant programmes on YouTube.» Watching is better for him than reading anyway.
It's also about my future, isn't it!
The daughter, on the other hand, clicked through smartvote and easyvote, studied the profiles of the candidates from a few parties. And used the party compass to confirm which party suits her best. Like all her classmates and friends, she ended up with the Greens. If they manage to pick up all the first-time voters, they will become the strongest party in Switzerland! Our daughter's words.
One week before the federal election date, we fill out the ballot papers. Incidentally, this can be done - get this - in analogue form and this time even in dialogue with us. In the meantime, our son has voluntarily exchanged ideas with his friends. «It's about my future too, isn't it!» he shouted rebelliously.
Have we adapted to our children's opinions?
Rebellious? There is no battle at the kitchen table. We are of the same opinion almost everywhere. That we need younger candidates who bring new ideas to politics. That stability is still valuable. That we don't want to leave the helm to politicians who are too right-wing and too nice, that increasing the proportion of women is a matter of course. And how important a globally coordinated environmental policy is.
In the end, everyone has the same list in front of them and puts it in the ballot envelope. Without arguments and provocation. Without slamming doors and leaning out of the window: Because we parents have conformed to the children's opinions? But hey, where's the fun in that?
