This year has been a crazy one for an election, especially for those who have no control of the results or recently became of voting age. That can also be known as Generation Z. In this election, two very different candidates ran. One was a conservative man who is currently in office, President Trump, and the other was a Democrat with some views that are liked by both the Democratic and Republican parties, Joe Biden. The 2020 election has been so vital to our future, that many people's political views have changed.
Gen Z seems to have very strong opinions on the two presidential candidates. Every day, you see multiple posts on all media platforms such as Instagram, Tik Tok, Twitter, and Snapchat of kids, teenagers, and young adults expressing their political beliefs. Some in the Gen Z community have more liberal views, but there are also people whose beliefs align better with a right-wing viewpoint.
“I was leaning towards the Trump party,” said Baker Petty. Baker is an eighteen-year-old boy who got to vote for the first time this year. He has grown up in the South and has only gotten really involved in politics very recently.
“I’m leaning left because I do not agree with almost all of the things that Trump believes in,” said Charlie Levy, Charlie is a thirteen-year-old girl who, of course, was not able to vote this election. She has grown up in California and has gotten really involved in this election.
Gen Z ranges from ages eight to twenty-three years old, and under 18s take up approximately 24% of America. This means that there is a significant group of people out there who haven't been able to vote but still have found ways to get involved. Four years ago, during the election of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, not quite as many young people were getting engaged. In this election, you hear about not only teenagers who feel they must make a change, but you also hear from kids who are in 2nd, 3rd, or 4th grade.
“If I can get the song that I made about Trump on Spotify then I can play it and maybe people will hate Trump if they listen to my song. I think the vote for Joe Biden posters might work also because if I hand them out and hand them out then people will get annoyed and vote for him” said Phoebe Eisenpresser-Courtin. Phoebe is a fourth-grade girl who has grown up in California and has been very excited about making a difference in this election. Phoebe’s quote proves my point that kids from such a young age seem very much more interested in the political scene this year than most.
There were a lot of different predictions about how the election would go and a lot of different reactions about how it turned out. It was a close call, swinging from one side to the other, so I would say it was an emotional rollercoaster for anyone with a strong opinion.
“I was pretty surprised actually. I think the election is technically still going on since CNN has called Biden as the president, but that does not mean he has officially won. It is still being taken to the courts and investigations are going down in the key states. I don’t think it was entirely a fair election because there were some cases of voting irregularities, especially since most of them, if not all, have been in favor of Joe Biden. Trump and Biden’s sides are both very polarized, and I think in any other election that might seem a little bit strange. I think it’s important to look at both of those different irregularities. If they turn out to be not true, then I am completely fine with Joe Biden being the president, and if that's what the people wanted, and I’m there for it,” said Baker P.
I heard some different predictions pre-election from Both Phoebe Eisenpresser-Courtin and Charlie Levy.
“I’m guessing Biden will win because some people who voted for Trump in 2016, might not be voting for Biden because they see how terrible Trump is. If he gets the big states, he has a good chance of winning,” Phoebe stated.
Charlie L. had a similar opinion, “I think that Biden is going to win. Not by a very big difference, but he will because a lot of former Republican states are turning over. But I don’t think Trump will leave the White House. I think he might try and get a recount.”
There are so many different ways that the younger generation has learned about this election and because of that, they have become very interested. From different classes in school talking about this election to just sitting down and reading an article or watching the news, the opportunities to educate yourself are endless.
“Last year, my history class was what started it, but now I've been watching the news a lot and looking at polls to see the different sides' beliefs. I helped my mom write postcards to remind democrats to vote and I helped her to do a phone bank and I was just getting democrats to go out and vote. My history teacher from last year helped me get more interested in politics and taught me about each candidate and their beliefs. My mom helped me get opportunities to help in the debate, and my older sister helped me learn about the different issues to have opinions on, and helped educate me about what I can believe in.” Said Charlie Levy.
When I asked eighteen-year-old Baker Petty when he started to support President Trump, he responded with this.
Fairly recently actually, I guess about three months ago, I wasn’t very political until then, but a person that I used to hang out with really pushed me into the political scene, so I kind of just absorbed as much as possible, and I’m still continuing to learn about what is going on. I watch things like Fox, CNN, MSNBC, other youtube channels, and news places like the daily wire.” Phoebe, who is a much younger girl, was not able to vote but has also been doing her research during this election process.
“I have this game where I can run for president, I wrote a song about how bad Trump is, and I've learned about the election in class,” she said.
I also talked to eighth-grader, Bryce Levine. Bryce is a fourteen-year-old girl who has grown up in California and has a very strong opinion on why she does not believe President Trump is a good choice. I asked her about her concerns if Trump ends up in the office for the next four years
“I think that he would take away the rights of women getting abortions which is not allowing women to have a right to her own body. Women would be forced to have children, and if a woman is not ready then that child will grow up without a strong support system and not have the life a child deserves. He has been putting immigrant children in cages, away from their family at such a young age. These kids don’t know if they will ever be able to see their parents again. Normally, people aren’t excited to leave their homes. People don’t walk to another place looking for safety as a hobby, immigrants don’t come to America to take our jobs, they come for safety.”
Baker had a different opinion, he clarified his concerns if Biden were to become president.
“I’m not a fan of his stances on certain things like climate change and how he is very pro green deal. I think that would be very detrimental to the United States as it is. I don’t like his stance on gun control and making it more strict. I think that would also be a detriment, I could get into other things.”
To sum it all up, this election has taken a big toll on the Gen Z community, and people who are young have become more interested in a truly monumental event that a lot of kids have never really been so involved in.
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