Sebastian Suarez ’18

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Usually teenage conversations at a late night party during the weekend would include what kind of car one drives or what school one attends, but recently the subject that dominating adolescent small talk has been the election–hardly a surprise. The majority of everything on social media has been related to our recent presidential race. Taking an interest in my peers’ opinions, I asked some of them a few questions about the election.

I live in the Memorial area, along with two of my closest friends, Mary Devers and Alexis Fallin. When asked “Are you happy with the election’s results?” they both stated they would have been happier if Hillary Clinton had won. No candidates were Alexis and Mary extremely happy about; however, they are excited and looking forward to what Mr. Trump will do. To the people protesting the new president-elect, “I think that people need to remember that it is indeed a system of checks and balances and that he won’t be able to take us in any direction he pleases due to the limits set on him by Congress.”

I also interviewed a good friend of mine Sophia Kidd, who attends Westchester Academy for International Studies. She offered, “Donald Trump has oftentimes expressed ideals and made statements rooted in hate and intolerance. The attitude he portrays to his supporters and to the rest of the world is not one of cooperation and the will to work together but an attitude of bigotry and ad hominem attacks.” Sophie is not merely giving her opinion about this matter, but is also attending a “Houston Against Trump” protest on November 20th in order to make her voice heard.

Finally, I interviewed Strake Jesuit’s very own Moses Monty ’18. He offered, “I am happy with the results of election. Although I am a minority, I have much faith in Mr. Donald J. Trump and his policies for the future. I especially look forward to the elimination of Obamacare.” Moses is part of the overwhelming majority of students attending Jesuit who find themselves on the right side of the spectrum, no pun intended. Most of his political beliefs derive from his Southern background.

These three interviews testify to the political conversation, even activism, beginning to take place in the social arena of teenagers in 2016. No longer will politics be a strictly “adult” topic. Now more than ever, with the nearly intrusive influence and presence of technology, will the younger generations begin to become more and more educated about matters of the government. The easily accessible information that technology offers with just the tap on a touchscreen will continually influence the generations of the future, and will hopefully draw younger people into our global political conversation.