Do you agree or disagree with the statement: students nowadays are more interested in politics than in the past.

现在的学生比过去的学生更关注政治，你是否同意？

The freedom of expression is a fundamental right enshrined in Constitution, including people’s political opinions. In fact, people in democratic countries are encouraged to participate in politics, especially votes. Today,even the young generation, students, also show more interest in politics than in the past.

In the first place, teachers today play a more important role in helping students to form their political opinions than before. Nowadays, it is free for teachers to express their political opinions in the class and many of them would like to share their thoughts with students. Teachers can organize group discussion on political issues by which they expect to inspire students to think, develop critical thinking, improve communication and negotiation skills, and learn to tolerate people holding different or even opposite perspectives. For example, when the government banned the free plastic bags in supermarkets, my nephew’s teacher used to lead them to discuss the pros, like reducing white pollution, and cons, like increasing the sales of plastic rubbish bags. But in the past, teachers were merely encouraged to focus on students’ academic study due to the pressure of standard tests.

In the second place, thanks to the propaganda of mass media and the connection of Internet, it is easier for students to acquire information on politics, to openly discuss politics and even to take part in political events. Actually, politicians are clear how important it is for their party to win support from young generation who will become their determined backers or bitter opponents in the following decades. Thus, there is propaganda of various forms targeting students, such as speeches on campus, slogans on billboards and discussion on Internet. Students, captured by politicians’ points and the bombast of media, will join the discussion and events. Take the presidential election as an instance. Most candidates would arrange their visit to universities where they give speeches and explain the policies they will follow, especially those closely related to students’ interests. Also, politicians are adept in how to lead opinions on social media, like Facebook and Twitter. However, students in the past had limited access to political information and no platform to have their voice heard.

To sum up, it is obvious that students are more interested in politics than before because of teachers’ guidance and power of propaganda.

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