Politics has always played a crucial role in the lives and matters of everyday Americans. Students develop their political views as they grow and learn more about the country they live in, and these opinions have the ability to heavily influence their lives. As a result of increased popularity, many students have started becoming more politically involved over recent years.
“We are at a very sensitive time in politics where there is a lot of dissent against our current president, as well as a lot of political issues that we are all affected by,” said Senior Moshitha Ashoka, a student with strong Democratic views.
In this day and age, politics have become seemingly inescapable. Social media sites and other forms of entertainment have continuously covered political topics within their platforms, and political subjects have dominated conversations among peers at school and family members at home.
“Nowadays with all the ‘fake news’ going around, you really need to be informed and inform others about the truth and reality of American politics,” said Junior John Cowan, a student with strong Republican views.
But even with all of this constant exposure, the majority of high school students remain unaware of many political events going on within our country. While this is not necessarily due to blatant ignorance, this widespread lack of involvement has the potential to drastically affect future decisions. The general consensus among these individuals appears to be a lack of impact or influence, but there are still a number of individuals who feel otherwise.
“It’s more of a choice to remain ignorant, not because there’s no accessibility,” said Ashoka, “there’s so much bias everywhere, there’s a lot of problems within our society and a lot of politicians taking advantage of our ignorance.”
Even though most students in high school aren’t able to vote yet, is it necessarily a bad thing to still be somewhat involved? By observing and understanding what’s currently happening within office, students will be able to see how these decisions will influence them as they enter adulthood, where they will then have the ability to advocate for change if necessary.
“Once I started getting more involved, I started seeing all the political discrepancies [how politics play into everything like how people treat each other, how decisions are made, everything] in school among teachers and students,” said Cowan. “It broadens your perspective, but it can also make your life a little more difficult.”
Although some students may not fully realize it yet, the decisions made in the government throughout these next couple of years will ultimately affect their generation the greatest.
“If we don’t make a proactive stance right now, we will be left with a generation of apathy and people who are not going to do what’s best for our country,” said Ashoka.
Joey Menendez // Editor-in-Chief
