Politics: love it or hate it, it's playing a huge role in your life. It’s far more than poking fun at politicians on the Weekend Update on "Saturday Night Live" or a headline article about what some politician supposedly said that you should be upset about. Politics are actually important, especially now that you've become an adult.

Political discussions don't always need to turn into debates or arguments. People shouldn't cringe when they hear the word. Politics shouldn’t be a topic to avoid; we shouldn’t be afraid of these issues and we shouldn’t be considered rude if we openly discuss them around people we just met or people we’ve known for years.

Disagreements can be healthy and necessary; it's part of the learning process. There needs to be controlled environments in which opposing views can be discussed and we as college students need to be open to hearing opinions that are different than ours. Honestly we don't know what we want from the government or where we want to stand because we're just now getting starting to deal with the real world on our own. Now we will start to feel the effects of government policies, it starts with loans and then before we know it we'll be looking for our own places to live, be out in the workforce, off our parents’ insurance and be exposed to the real effects of government decisions.

Eighteen to twenty four-year-olds have repeatedly been the lowest age group in electoral turnout with only 28 percent of this population voting. These numbers decline more with each election. This is clearly an issue that needs to be addressed. I mean this is our country, the place we are proud to be from, the place we love. How could someone not be interested in having a say of who is in control of the decisions made on our behalf, to represent us in a place we call home?

There's nothing wrong with opinions, they should be supported and heard but they should be educated opinions that are had for a reason. Democrat, Republican or independent it does not matter, but learn for yourself where you want the government to go and what turns it should take don't piggyback off what your parents did or what you've known. Hear both sides before you decide to associate yourself with one particular group, learn the real issues, get interested.

Here is an article discussing the lack of political participation among college students: http://www.civicyouth.org/PopUps/WorkingPapers/WP4...