In the summer of 2022, I asked a about 8 early 20 somethings here in Paulding County what their main concerns in life were. Almost without exception, the young women said reproductive health care. Some said paying back student loans and being afraid of not being able to buy a house or move out of their parents' house.

My daughter was born in August of '99 and until 2017 lived in Paulding County. She then went to the University of Georgia in a purple college town where Governor Kemp is from and after graduating moved to Atlanta. She heard about all of the presidents and about all of the political goings on but I know that is not typical. Most of her friends seem to be pretty aware of what is going on in politics. She was in Chorus and Musical Theater in high school so hung with a more liberal group. The day after the 2016 election, she was beside herself with grief because she had LGBTQIA friends who were legitimately scared about what would happen under trump. She is a democrat but she does not like to talk about politics AT ALL because to her politics means strife and arguing. She gets most of her information from TikTok, Instagram, or she will ask me about who's on the ballot to vote for. I have gotten her to participate in phone banking and going to rallies and think I can get her to do more of that. I think some of her friends will do that as well BUT they are in Atlanta or metro ATL which is blue. 

I think how young adults react to politics can depend a great deal on what they've observed from family and friends. If your parents have been all gung ho MAGAts and Sarah Palin and Bush Jr, you'll have picked that up, unless of course you decide to rebel against them and go to the DARK SIDE. My daughter-in-law's parents don't vote (although they like trump) so she had never registered to vote and saw no need in voting. She is 26. In 2020, I made sure that she was registered and she has started voting. She is extremely concerned about women's reproductive health issues. She gets most of her info from TikTok or Insta. 

Just isolated examples, I know, but just another reason why it's so important to reach out to young people in venues/events that they will find motivating. Once we get them there, then we can start educating them about their civic duties, how to vet information to make sure its not mis/disinformation, how to get involved in their communities to engage other young, etc.