While I may miss being able to vote by two months, this year’s election is extremely important to me and should be important to all high school students. I know that this may sound like something coming out of an adult’s mouth, but it’s true. Issues like healthcare, taxes and economic reform used to seem like something your parents worried or complained about but if you think about it, every single Niles North student reading this article will be in or starting college by the end of the newly or re-elected president’s term. This means that the decisions our new leader makes will directly affect you, not just your parents.
To me, this is somewhat terrifying. I have to worry about taxes?! I just learned how to fill out a 1040EZ in Consumer Ed a year ago. Most of us can’t even decide what to wear in the morning half of time, and now my friends are deciding who will be the next Commander-in-Chief? This doesn’t seem like reality.
Over the past 17 years of my life I feel like I’ve learned a few things. My family has always encouraged political discussion and based on my worldview, I am a Democrat through and through. Democrats believe that change is good for the United States and its government and tend to be liberal in their social platforms (i.e. they support legalizing same-sex marriage). Democrats bring about this change through fiscal government regulation and social programs aimed at eradicating issues like poverty and costly healthcare.
If I got to punch that ballot this fall, I would be voting for President Obama. I resonate strongly towards his ideas in healthcare, the economy and to me, the most important of all, education. For the more controversial issues like gay marriage, the choice to get an abortion and the decriminalization of marijuana, I say yes to all three. Now all of that was breezed over pretty quickly, and in no way do I want to gloss over any of those issues. In fact, my goal is that by election day in November, I will have written a piece on all of those topics and more.
The point of this column is to open the discussion about politics between high schoolers. There is no way I can speak proficiently on every topic discussed in politics today, and I will guarantee that for many of the pieces I write there will be research involved, videos watched and speeches reread. You don’t have to be a political expert to talk about politics, you just need to be able to make an informed opinion. I am tired of walking the hallways and hearing students spout what their parents think and what their friends think– North Star wants to know what YOU think. So leave a comment below or stop me in the hall because politics is not about spitting out an individual’s ideologies, it’s about the collective discussion and decision-making that continues to run or country.
Lindsay P • Sep 4, 2012 at 7:40 pm
Good job Megan! I am proud of my little sister. I think this article is a great way to get high schoolers to create a conversation, and not a one sided debate, about politics. Bravo! I wish you luck in your future articles.