Over the course of a few days, we sought out five random volunteers to answer some political questions for us. We were interested to see how young people at this school felt on certain topics. This was by no means an exhaustive study, but we figured there were a lot of students who had political views but weren’t necessarily surrounded by people actively fostering this sort of discussion, or didn’t have somewhere they could discuss their views with someone who would listen. All quotes in this article are taken anonymously, for the sake of student privacy.
The shooting of Charlie Kirk was an event that rocked American political discourse. It was an event that transcended the political sphere into the general mainstream consciousness. The general consensus amongst the interviewed students was that what happened to Charlie Kirk shouldn’t have happened at all. One young man said, “I think it was very sad. I mean, people have their own beliefs, their own views on him, but at the end of the day, it’s a man who had kids and a family.” Another agreed,
“I believe that he didn’t deserve to get shot. Even though the things he said were terrible, he wasn’t physically doing anything.” said another. However, not all were as sympathetic. “Obviously I wasn’t happy that he died, but I feel like in some way, there was some violence that was alleviated. Especially with the types of things he was saying, and the influence that he had. I don’t think that it was good what happened, but I’m not, like, heartbroken about it either.” said one.
Abortion is another hot button issue, one Kirk himself spoke extensively on. Most students seem to agree that Every student we interviewed saw abortion is as a human right. The most common argument in support of abortion was that people would find a way to get abortions even if it’s illegal, so there might as well be a safe way for them to receive the procedure. “In my opinion, abortion is a human right, and if you ban it, then people are just gonna get it some other way, in back alleys and hurt themselves” said one. “I think abortion should be legal, especially if it’s a rape baby, or incest or anything like that. And if they’re too young, I don’t think they should have to bring a baby into this world if they can’t support themselves” another said.
The last issue of the interview was Immigration. 3Three of the 5five students were in support of immigration, legal or otherwise. The first person interviewed said, “I feel like all the stuff to prevent it is wrong. I feel like people should be able to come to America freely. That’s what this country is for. They say that they are bad people and do bad things, but plenty of people do bad things in America too. We’re just stereotyping Mexicans as bad people, but it’s not true. They’re just trying to find peace in America.” The second student said, “America’s always been the melting pot. How are we trying to make these people out to be evil, even if they just want to come here and have a better life?” One student disagreed, however. “I mean, I see it as getting pretty bad. Taking jobs, getting stuff that American citizens have. I don’t think we should fully put an end to it, but I feel like we should put a stop to it for sure.” Another student offered a similar view, though he noted that he felt that the increase in ICE presence across the country was pointless. “I mean, I’m Mexican. I feel like ICE, they’re just doing that for no reason.”
If there’s one thing we can really take away from this, it’s that young people are fully capable of intelligent and rational political discussions, and this is something that should not only be tolerated but actively fostered. If young people are shown that their opinion matters, and are given a place where they can share their views and respectfully engage with others about them, we would all benefit from it.
