What do young people want on coronation day? More teachers, climate action: start with that - The Guardian

What do young people want on coronation day? More teachers, climate action: start with that | Elsie McDowell | The Guardian

The coronation of King Charles III couldn’t come at a worse time for young people. After the chaos caused by Covid, and with teacher’s strikes (which I support) ongoing, it is yet another day off school in the crucial run-up to GCSE and A-level exams. Perhaps this is a cynical way to view the first anointing of a British head of state in 70 years, but it’s hard to see this as nothing more than an expensive disruption to my day-to-day life.

I wondered if I was alone in thinking this, so I asked around my school. It turns out that I wasn’t. As my fellow sixth-former Nilyana put it: “I’m not going to enjoy [the coronation] because I’m taking A-level exams. It’s coming at such an inconvenient time.”

And this isn’t just about educational disruption. New polling from YouGov shows that, overwhelmingly, young people are apathetic about the monarchy: a staggering 78% of those aged 18-24 are “not interested” in the royal family.

My generation – “Gen Z” – is often praised for its political activism. But I think people give us too much credit: if a political issue cannot be neatly compacted into a hashtag or a concise post to be shared on an Instagram story, it often does not register with many young people. Laurence, 17, echoed this, telling me: “It’s a shame more young people aren’t vocal in fighting for a republic – just not caring isn’t enough.”

That’s not to say that young people have no thoughts at all about the monarchy. Romesa, 17, felt that it could be difficult for immigrants in the UK to relate to the coronation, especially if they’ve come from a country that was colonised by Britain – a process from which the monarchy profited so handsomely.

To me, the coronation is emblematic of the UK’s wealth inequality. While people across the country are choosing between eating or heating their homes, King Charles III will be crowned in a multimillion-pound extravaganza of pomp and circumstance, funded by taxpayers. If we are to have a coronation, surely a man with an estimated private fortune of £1.8bn can pay for it himself?

This spending seems particularly cruel when the government says it “can’t afford” to give nurses a well-deserved pay rise. The £86m that the government pays the royal family every year could pay for thousands of teachers. Due to austerity, real-terms spending per pupil in England decreased by 8.3% between 2009 and 2019 . Our education and health systems are in crisis, yet the government is funding a state-subsidised party.

Maybe this is unfair. After all, the monarch is supposed to be a unifying figure, and after the tumultuous few years this country has had, is the coronation not a well-needed celebration? Looking back at the coronation of Elizabeth II, we can see a moment of celebration and togetherness for the postwar nation. But it really is difficult to see how any monarch would be able to unify such a divided country today.

So what do young people want instead of an ill-timed, overpriced ceremony for a man who has no claim to influencing British politics other than his familial connections? We want our teachers to be paid fairly and our schools to be properly funded. We want the government to take the climate crisis seriously. We want a government that is not mired by scandal after scandal.

This country needs so much more than a bank holiday.
Elsie McDowell is an A-level student from south London. She was the
2023 winner of the Hugo Young award, 16-18 age category
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