For some people, hoisting a sign and walking through a neighbourhood during an election campaign has become, in essence, sexy. Likewise fundraising for a candidate representing the party you want in power, or joining the campaign team of said candidate in some other capacity.

But what happens in the three or four years between elections? What seems to be forgotten is the need to educate young people about the political process, talking about federal, provincial or civic hot-button issues, or about why voting is important. It’s kind of like bobsledding or kayaking between Olympics.

Poll results released by the Dominion Institute found that 50 per cent of voters aged 18 to 25 expect to vote in the 2008 federal election – that’s down from a 57-per-cent turnout in 2006. That number shows that cultivating the youth vote has become distinctly un-sexy for the major parties.

The surprising thing was many of those polled said it wasn’t a lack of interest, they simply didn’t feel they had enough information to make an educated choice. The media can take a share of the blame for that one.

But in today’s era of text messaging, Facebook and MySpace, traditional political organizations are dropping the ball when it comes to getting their message across. The sad thing is, if they don’t do it this time around, it won’t get any easier next time around.

Voting becomes a habit if practised regularly. And if our young people don’t learn the importance of voting, say before they turn 18 (federal) or 19 (provincial, civic), chances are it’s unlikely they’ll take much interest later on.

Some schoolteachers do well at facilitating discussions about politics in the classroom, but they clearly are few and far between, given past voter turnout among young people.

Think about it. People eligible to vote in their first election next week could well have been in Grade 10 during the last federal vote. It’s time we started getting serious about ensuring our youth are learning what they need to know about how the country they’ll inherit works.