Date: Feb 27, 2019 Source: The Daily Star Political socialization Hiba Huneini Youth empowerment and engagement are not options or choices anymore in any developmental process. It has been proved that creating jobs for young people is the cornerstone of any economic development all over the world, and engaging youth in any decision-making process is key to decreasing marginalization, which is the root cause of disturbances and conflicts. States and international organizations tend to allocate huge amounts of funds and invest in setting strategies and policies at the national and international level in order to develop the socio-economic conditions of young people. We notice a lot of replicated models and programs on job creation, employability skills, personal capacity building and political participation. Yet youth issues, mainly political participation, are seldom tackled in a holistic way. No implemented programs and action plans have succeeded yet in shifting the engagement of youth from political practitioners to professionals. Young political professionalism can’t be built by a mere training program or a series of workshops and lectures. It requires “political socialization,” whereby individuals acquire political behavior and attitudes through their life experiences since their childhood. According to Herbert H. Hyman, political socialization is defined as “the learning of social patterns corresponding to one’s societal position as mediated through various agencies of society.” Thus, it is the life learning process through social interaction with societal agencies: family, school, peers, the media and political events. Such socializing agencies shape the political self during the midteens and mid-20s. Family members, mostly parents, play a major role in shaping the political orientation of youth through their daily practices, from political discussions to watching television talk shows, but it is not a rule nowadays that young people have the same political opinions as their parents. Schools also play a key role in building political interest through civic education and teaching students about their government, constitution and laws. Civic education can compensate for a lack of political orientation in the family. In addition, building the skills of negotiation, debating and critical thinking is crucial in any democratic practice. Organized community service also enables young people to discover their community practically and to accumulate feelings and actions concerning civic and political participation. Peers have an impact on their political principles and skills through social norms that are introduced and topics of discussions and interest shared within the network. Social media nowadays socializes people in a different way from other generations. However, social media outlets often act as a platform for polarization. Besides, political events such as elections also have an impact on youth actions and opinions. Other critical events such as wars and assassinations have major impact on youth, especially those that have a transformative impact in any context. In Lebanon, most of the time older family members who were affected by the Civil War and political polarization have an impact on youth. They recount narratives that transfer their fear and accumulated memories to their children. Some schools are highly politicized to the extent that they raise children on polarization, without building critical thinking skills to enable them to choose their own political orientation. Other schools insist on isolating young people in their own environment under the title of “neutrality,” without any introduction to the governmental system or the background of their community. This means raising them in a bubble, away from the reality and the dynamics of their community. As for the media, it also plays a magnifying role in increasing polarization and sectarianism through a lack of objectivity and efforts to increasing viewership. And social media is being used for political mobilization instead of as a platform for discussion and the sharing of knowledge. Different generations interact differently with social agencies and react differently to political events. The role of social agencies differs from one community to another, due to the context and challenges in each community. In our complex context, we should invest in building the social contract between youth and the state through education, while taking into consideration the national and regional circumstances and challenges. In this way, political participation will be structured upon a clear social contract with governmental entities through individuals’ daily practices. Growing in political life is not a matter of aging biologically; instead, it is how we interact and learn from all socializing agents and build our skills from the opportunities and experiences in our community that orient our political preferences and behavior. Hiba Huneini is manager of the youth and civic engagement program at the Hariri Foundation for Sustainable Human Development. Email her at hiba.h@hariri-foundation.org. A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Daily Star on February 27, 2019, on page 3.