With the recent presidential debates and the upcoming election, politics are a widely-discussed topic, even more than they are on a regular basis. Because of this, many people are ready to get in on all the discussion to express their opinion or even just to see what all the fuss is about. That is when many people, young and old, begin to talk about problems they are not educated in, and that’s a problem.
Among many highschool students, politics seems to be something of an everyday topic with 44% of teenagers saying that they regularly discuss politics with their peers whether it is a small discussion with a friend or a full scale argument. While it is good for people to start expressing their opinions at this age, many want to talk about topics that they do not really know the facts of, usually ending in conflict.
Abigail Andersen, a junior, thinks that, while there are a lot of people who may not know what they’re talking about, it is important for teens to discuss politics. “I talk about politics a lot with my friends, maybe too much,” said Andersen. “I usually only talk about politics with my friends that share the same views as me, but sometimes I’ll get into politics with other people. I think it’s really important because it reinforces my opinions when I talk to people who share my same views and hear people’s opinions I may disagree with and see where they are coming from.”
In a recent study, 88% of teens claim that they get their main source of information from multiple news sources. Connor Johnson, a sophomore at Nuames, finds that hard to believe. “There’s no way that that many people are able to stay away from sites that only agree with what they think,” said Johnson. “Most people nowadays hold their opinions as a part of themselves instead of something that they can change.” With this, he believes that many people might not be getting information that is 100% unbiased. While Johnson leans more towards the Liberal side of politics, he tries to get his information from everywhere, even though he does not actively engage in conversations about it.
With today’s media being extremely biased and it becoming increasingly more difficult to find the facts, the amount of stupid things that one may hear just walking down the halls is on a massive climb. While the majority of this most likely stems from what kids see on social media and the news, much of it is what they hear from their parents. It seems like everytime I ask someone to cite where they got information from they say they heard it from their parents and that the students know the information is true because their parents “know what they’re talking about.”
It is obviously important to talk to your child about the differences between the political parties and what they believe; however, it is never okay to tell them that what you believe is the only thing that is correct. Telling kids this will almost definitely lead to them ignoring any claim that the other party has about a subject, only on the premise that their parents told them how stupid or wrong the other side is. In a recent poll, 57% of teens, ranging from the age of 15 to 17, said that they shared the same political beliefs as their parents.
Although the majority of teens share the same beliefs as their parents and feel very strongly about them, 91% agree that their party could have a view that is incorrect. Along with this, 89% agreed that they might agree with something that the opposing party believes while still following a different political party. While most could find a way to agree with an opposite political party, there are still a handful of voters who said they could not.
Freshman Jordan McAfee offered more insight on why she couldn’t agree with the other side. “My whole family is Republican, so I think that is why I’m more republican myself,” McAfee said. “Everything that the left side believes, I just don’t understand or agree with at all. I am pro-life, pro- gun, and I don’t agree with what the BLM movement is doing.” But even while she disagrees with the majority of the things the left believes, she did have this to say, “What happened with instances like George Floyed, for example, is not okay. Racism is a very real thing and it’s a huge problem, but I think the rioting has really gotten out of control.”
As Americans, and society as a whole, we should all focus on not only respecting each other’s political views but seeking out the truth above all else. I believe that with more people like the ones interviewed in this article we can be better off as humans and as a country.
