Apathy is Boring aims to use art and technology to educate young people about democracy and encourage their active involvement in decision making.
Founded by my colleague and Ashoka fellow Ilona Dougherty they have already inspired over 30,000 young Canadians to pledge to vote in our upcoming federal election May 2nd. You may have noticed their ads in theatres or Muchmusic in previous elections; attended their 'Civic Duty' concerts; purchased an 'Apathy is boring' tee shirt; or heard their commentaries on various civic affairs programs. They've already reached hundreds of thousands of young folks. And you immediately see why, when you graze through their website.
Their bi-lingual website is smart, saucy, intuitive and wrapped with the music the Facebook, Flickr, and Twitter generation admire. They've already assembled an impressive array of videos and audio clips from Canadian musicians and DJ's.
A is B works hard to demystify government – providing basic information, a glossary/tag cloud of terms, and a teacher's guide. They even have a Parliamentary Bill tracking Database – something we could all use.
And while elections seem to be their hook to reach young people right now, their essential message is "Democracy is more than Voting." See for example: Tips on Getting Involved
And for the older among us, they offer Youthfriendly.com – accessible information about inter-generational partnerships and tools to keep your organization in touch with the youth of today.
Finally something that might reduce our boring factor to the young people we know!
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