Living in a community with high levels of civic engagement is becoming increasingly rare around the world, but especially right here in the state of Texas. There are several variations of civic engagement, but in this essay we will define what it looks like in Texas, why the civic engagement problem exists in Texas, and what can be done to fix it. Civic engagement can be as small as volunteering at a local men's and women's club, voting, or serving on a council. Volunteering is anything that helps make the community beneficial and prosperous. “Communities with strong civic health indicators as measured by the Civic Health Index have higher employment rates, stronger schools, better physical health, and more responsive governments” (“Texas Civic Health Index”). Records show that sufficient community engagement impacts all demographics. If Texas were to achieve higher voter turnout in the eighteen to twenty-nine age group, it would have a substantial effect on politics. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Currently, Texas is considered a predominantly Republican state and has been for years. About four million Texans between the ages of eighteen and twenty-nine voted in the last presidential election. While several million voters seem pretty practical, there are over 28 million citizens in this state. «Political participation remains extremely low. In 2016, Texas ranked 47th in voter turnout and 44th in voter registration. Texas ranks near the bottom for political participation and civic involvement” (“UT News”). Being ranked 44th out of 50 states shows that Texas citizens are not only failing to get involved in community affairs, but also in something as important as voting in our presidential races. Texas recently had one of the highest voter turnouts in our governor's race for Ted Cruz vs. Beto O'Rourke. In the end, the Republicans achieved victory, but Cruz certainly had a hard time. Beto has been portrayed as the underdog from the start, but his efforts to convince the younger Democratic generation to vote and use their voice is what has brought him so much national attention. Not only did it prove that Texas is no longer a solid red state, but that when you give people hope for change anything is possible. One change that needs to happen to achieve greater voter turnout from young people is to specifically target millennials. One of the most effective ways to reach voters under 30 is to connect with them on social media in a positive way. This is where a large number of people get their news without having to read or watch it. Our current president is on Twitter often enough that his name is in the trending section of social media. Whether or not Texans agree with his views, he does what he needs to do to be heard by younger generations. Beto also had a very well put together social media team and this definitely helped spread his ideas as well. Additionally, we need to work to make civic engagement seem “cool and fun.” This is a selfish generation and we are always too busy to help others unless we know it will benefit us too. If more celebrities and other inspirational figures organized more public charity events, more people would want to get involved because it's the "thing to do." Just like when a celebrity goes vegan and the next day everyone does too.