Election 2012: A Mind Divided
As Election Day, Nov. 6, 2012, drew closer and closer, The ROCK investigated how different factors impacted students’ political views.
The apple falls far from the tree?
Youths’ political stances stem from life experiences
Upon receiving his first paycheck in the mail, excitement overwhelmed junior Adam Burnam. But when he tore open the crisp white envelope, his face fell in disappointment. The government took two of every 10 hours pay from his check, and the money went right into the greedy mouth of Uncle Sam, Burnam said. Flooded with disappointment and a sense of unfairness, he remembered once again the myriad reasons he chooses to identify as a Republican.
Burnam is one of many opinionated students open to fervent debate regarding political stances, begging the question of how these opinions arose in the first place. Students are quick to defend their political stances, claiming they develop these beliefs based on their own experiences rather than simply emulating those of their parents.
As an passionate member of Young Republicans, Burnam said his political affiliation was a personal choice rather than a lifestyle his parents forced on him. He compares the forming of these ideologies with the way he may idolize any other character.
“Just as I would form my idea of my favorite superhero because of what they believe and the things that they do, what they’ve accomplished,” Burnam said. “It’s kind of similar to how I’ve formed my political opinion.”
He said his conservative viewpoints are a direct result of an accumulation of his own life experiences. In addition to his dissatisfaction with the current government’s taxation policies, Burnam explained watching industries struggle “right here in his hometown” showed him the merit in conservative policy.
“Growing up in Columbia and being surrounded by many small local businesses, and seeing many of them go bankrupt,” Burnam said, “made me realize the importance of policies that help small business to be successful.”
Burnam had a fascination with politics from an early age and he said he developed his identity as a Republican based on his observations regarding the “hypocrisy of the Democratic Party.” Involving himself in the world of politics through volunteer work at the Republican Party headquarters allows Burnam to better understand how the government works and to form opinions on his own.
Senior Annie Rumpf, secretary of Young Republicans, also said her political affiliation arose from personal ideals rather than those of her parents. Even though she grew up in an environment where adults openly discussed politics, she does not think this swayed her opinions.
“I was exposed to politics, but growing up I definitely saw both sides of the story,” Rumpf said. “[My parents] kind of let me think for myself. I really appreciated that.”
Rumpf said pressure from parents on a teen to hold certain political opinions may have the reverse effect. She said she is grateful she has had the opportunity to explore her own identity as a future American voter, coming to conclusions on various topics through personal contemplation rather than parental influence.
“I feel like with kids who have politics shoved down their throat, sometimes they just decide not to be involved in politics at all, like ‘I don’t want to do this, I don’t want to get into this,’” Rumpf said. “I think one of the primary reasons that I am so strong in my political stance is that I have had the freedom to choose and make those decisions.”
Young members of the opposing political club also claim their parents did not choose their stance for them. Junior Ginny Tharpe, a strong liberal and member of Young Democrats, shares political views with her mother. Tharpe said the views stemmed from her own worldly assesments rather than external pressure. At the same time, she believes external influence assists in molding the political identity of many young people.
“In my family, my parents told me the facts of both sides, then allowed me to make decisions and choices from the facts. They encouraged me to read the newspaper and watch the news,” Tharpe said. “Political views are definitely something parents try to pass down, but I don’t think it’s all parents; it’s also the community that the kids were raised in that could lead them in their political choices.”
Burnam identifies parents as the sole outside influence who aid in shaping the political mindset of young people. Although Burnam said his own opinions are self-formed, he recognizes this as a unique case, which does not exemplify the norm. Burnam said he sees a trend in young peoples’ political affiliations where they simply reword information overheard from their parents.
“I think that the majority of time [young people’s political beliefs] do come from the parents, especially among the students that … are more close-minded,” Burnam said. “The little things that they they do know would be overheard from their parents. … And then you could ask them, ‘Well why do you think that?’ and they’d say, ‘I don’t know.’”
Sociology teacher Gregory Irwin agrees that young peoples’ political ideologies resonate with those of their parents. This may be because of various reasons, he said, including the idea that political ideologies are often held much like religious notions and are similarly adopted based off of one’s families’ political correlation.
“The literature that is out there says that you’re about 80 percent likely to vote in a similar fashion as your parents,” Irwin said. “So it doesn’t mean you vote for every single candidate that they vote for, but chances are that most of your votes will be similar to theirs, even into adulthood.”
Irwin said though the opinions of parents may easily influence teenage minds, this is positive in their open nature and ability to learn and grow as free-thinking members of society.
In fact, Irwin said, teenagers may actually be “more open-minded than many voters.” He thinks the malleability of young minds can be a good thing and that, although a parental influence certainly exists in the realm of politics, it is not overwhelming.
“I think that kids — even 18-year-olds — just have a pretty limited experience of what the political world is like,” Irwin said. “I don’t think that parents are brainwashing their kids.”
By Anna Wright
Teachers strive to avoid undue political influence on teen views
With the election in full swing, the media and society again pry open the scab between opposing Democratic and Republican opinions. Television networks and newspapers bash the beliefs of one political party while praising those of another.
In a search for the ultimate truth, unsure students eligible to vote may look for an epiphany to direct them toward the deserving candidate. The slightest suggestion from an individual the student looks up to could sway his or her opinions one way or another, according to www.phys.org, where researchers at the University College London (UCL) have found that the brain is influenced when people agree or disagree with their opinions.
After so many years of educating students, a teacher can have opinions that learners admire. According to www.teacherscount.org, once children attend school, they start spending more time with their teachers than with their parents. This means teachers aren’t just providing an education, but they’re also affecting the emotional, intellectual and social development of each student they encounter. Therefore, should the political opinions of the teacher seep into the lesson, the effects upon the student could impact the name they will select on the voting ballot.
“I, for the most part, value the opinions of my teachers. Even if we don’t agree on some things, it’s always nice to hear another point of view,” sophomore Saja Necibi said. “I also trust that what they say is true, unless they have obviously taken a standpoint on something controversial, in which I become skeptical that they are showing the truth about both sides of the story.”
As the sponsor for the Young Democrats club, RBHS World Studies and Pop Culture teacher Mike McGinty has his controversial political beliefs known to the student body. McGinty acknowledges such knowledge may impact students like Necibi. He said instructors need to be conscious of the influence they have on students, but also that students need to stand behind their own beliefs.
“Political viewpoints are almost sacred to some students and thus should be treated as such. Teachers should challenge students to defend their beliefs, regardless of whether those beliefs and opinions differ from the instructor,” McGinty said. “My job is to instill and sharpen the skills necessary for students to analyze and evaluate the information they are presented with to form reasoned and defendable positions.”
Although the differing political beliefs of students and teachers can allow the chance for critical thinking, McGinty admitted in his four years as a government teacher, he never divulged his stance on politics to his students until the last day of school. His freshmen students at Jefferson Junior High School would debate all year about whether McGinty was a Democrat or Republican.
“On the last day of school, I would announce which platform I favored on most issues. … Some students were excited and some were disappointed,” McGinty said. “Looking back, I was proud that they really didn’t know. I guess that meant that I challenged the viewpoints of everyone in the class without revealing my own.”
As McGinty’s enlightened freshmen students were well aware, learning of a teacher’s political leaning has the potential of causing the student to view the teacher in a completely different light. If the views of the student contrasts those of the teacher, the trusting relationship between the two may be slowly dissolved.
“I think if their opinions greatly opposed mine, that would subconsciously affect my view of that teacher,” Necibi said. “I would still respect them and probably still consider their opinions and comments, but I would question what they say, especially regarding their opinion they have that opposes mine.”
Jennifer Black-Cone, RBHS Creative Writing and Contemporary Fiction instructor, said when sharing hot-button topics such as religion, politics and controversial issues, teachers need to work within the realm of the course.
In Black-Cone’s opinion, a teacher should only discuss beliefs if they come up in class. Black-Cone has made her viewpoints known about issues and identified her religion, but she said it has always been done with the encouragement that others do the same in a non-threatening manner. In most situations, Black-Cone will avoid sharing her beliefs, but students ask her, she will declare her stance and explain why without disrespecting the opposing view.
“If the class is going to speak on [controversial] subjects, all participants (including teachers) should be able to declare their position. This should establish the demographic of the room and help guide conversations. When it is not a part of the course, it should not need to be brought up. However, even teachers are human and are biased by their personal convictions,” Black-Cone said in an email interview. “Sometimes this can influence a student and teacher if the two are polar opposites on issues and this impacts their relationship. I believe that it is the responsibility of the teacher to be the professional and communicate with that student that the two of them must agree to disagree but strive for a healthy working relationship.”
Regardless of whether or not a teacher informs students of their political beliefs, specific guidelines exist in Columbia Public Schools that restrict how much an instructor is allowed by the district to divulge. According to the CPS Staff Conduct guidelines, the “use of school contacts and privileges to promote private economic interests partisan politics, or sectarian religious views of any kind is prohibited.”
Like the other political club sponsors, by heading the Young Democrats, McGinty is aware students have direct knowledge of his political views. For himself, McGinty attempts to conceal his political beliefs, for the most part, to ensure utmost learning and to practice proper conduct as a teacher.
“I would simply say that teachers are expected to know that being a professional has placed them in a position of leadership,” McGinty said, and “that cannot be used to push personal political agendas.”
Young Republican sponsors Jane Piester and Susan Lidholm declined comment as to the topic of teachers making their political beliefs known to students.
From a student perspective, Necibi supports the idea that teachers should never discuss their political beliefs with students due to the subconscious harm it may cause to the relationship. Such knowledge could make a student dislike the class, and may cause tensions to arise from the topic.
“I think that teachers shouldn’t make their political beliefs public at school,” Necibi said. “It could create unwanted tension that distracts from students’ learning environment, since there will almost always be somebody that has an opposing view, and could easily offend someone.”
Students are subject to the same biases and stereotypes as the rest of the nation. Despite the restrictions placed on how much can be said about political stances, McGinty is a supporter of engaging in discussions with students about the election to clarify the prejudices they may have been exposed to.
“Teacher-student dialogue about issues that students care deeply about outside of the classroom is important if it is meant to seek clarification about the actions or policies of the government; however, this dialogue is not appropriate if the teacher is attempting to persuade the student to their particular political viewpoint,” McGinty said. “The most important thing to remind students is to be critical of their sources of information.”
When students and teachers have the opportunity to divulge their political beliefs, Black-Cone said they bond as they share similar views because students seek out adults that share their beliefs. Of course, Cone said the opposite view can alienate a student from the teacher and possibly the class.
“People are passionate about their politics and religious affiliation. The main benefit is that the students will have an understanding of the teacher as a person who lives in the real world,” Black-Cone said. “The danger is when the teacher – intentionally or not – gives the impression that he/she is correct and any dissenting view is wrong.”
To prevent any sort of conflict or disagreement when it comes to the separate beliefs of students and teachers, Necibi provides a solution she believes instructors should practice any time they teach a controversial lesson.
“I think teachers should do their very best to show both sides of anything that they teach or decide to bring up in class,” Necibi said. “It’s very unfair to students, if a teacher shows only one side of a story or conflict and teaches it to the whole class as if that’s the only truth, without showing the other side.”
As students are entering high school, they may begin to realize that teachers have different opinions and beliefs that may oppose their own.
But such diversities should not cause students to degrade the credibility as respected individuals. McGinty said these dissimilarities have the potential to allow for a teacher-student connection that broadens the mindset of the student through the awareness of another side, but also allows students to defend the beliefs they may already hold.
Every day, students make religious or social assessments, and eventually nationally significant decisions, such as voting. In these circumstances, McGinty believes that the insight of teachers has the potential to sway the choices students make.
However, Cone said the chance for discussion on these topics can be grasped with the intention of exhibiting opposing sides of an argument as a learning opportunity, but should avoid explicit persuasion to benefit a certain party or group.
“Rock Bridge’s mantra of ‘freedom with responsibility’ transcends basic school behavior. It encompasses all aspects of life,” Black-Cone said. “At RBHS, we believe that all people in our building have the right to the freedom of their beliefs and convictions, yet all have the responsibility to respect the choices of others.”
By Manal Salim
Media pollutes impartial debate
“I think media has an incredible role in politics,” senior Andrew Hutchinson said. “For example, if you just look at the Romney and Obama debate alone, no matter how Romney and Obama actually did, because there’s no real established victor in that debate, the media establishes the victor. And based on the victor people form their opinions.”
Junior Daniel Shapiro believes the media is the main political outlet for most people. However, since there are so many mediums of sharing information, Shapiro said there are really multiple factions of media with the power over politics, not just one entity monopolizing the power.
These factions ensure that though many people utilize the media to get their political opinions and information, they all get these opinions and facts from a multitude of sources who present the same information in a myriad of ways: satirical or serious, liberal or conservative.
“I watch news for five minutes in the morning on ABC or NBC,” sophomore Sonia Clark said. “But I definitely prefer politics that are funny … like Stephen Colbert makes everything funny, but [the show] still makes me understand politics better.”
Not only does Clark prefer comedic news outlets rather than serious ones, but she also tends to watch shows that share her same political leanings. Shapiro said he thinks watching shows that support an individual’s political leanings is a universal tendency.
“That’s how I think most people are,” Shapiro said. “A person’s going to want to try to look at media that makes them feel like they’re right.”
The option to pick and choose the bias present in news is catching the attention of more students. Hutchinson said although it would be great if the media presented things in an unbiased way, it’s gotten to the point where “the media says what the media wants to say.”
Junior Nate Horvit, on the other hand, thinks the media have a right to be biased.
“It’s the media’s responsibility to inform the public of the happenings that we’re not going to know about otherwise,” Horvit said, “and if they can do this more efficiently by taking a stance that is pro-one-party or pro-one-belief, that’s fine. … If you don’t like that a station runs certain slants on stories, you’re just going to go to a different station.”
Students are also noticing mudslinging campaign efforts like malicious ads and candidate speeches, as well as the unprecedented large political sway these can have on the masses watching.
“This year all the speeches weren’t like, ‘This is what’s great about this candidate,’” Shapiro said. “They were more like, ‘This is what’s wrong about the other [candidate]; this is why so-and-so would be a better president.’ There’s a lot of smearing at this point … and I think most people don’t see through it. … These huge propaganda efforts can really influence a person who doesn’t have firm beliefs.”
Hutchinson doesn’t believe campaign ads have an obligation to tell the truth, but he says they have an inordinate amount of power over public opinion. He said things have gotten to the point where, if you campaign ads will inevitably influence you, if you’re watching one.
“It’s not an influence to gather more information and learn more,” Hutchinson said. “It’s an influence that ‘Obama’s trying to create a council that’ll kill your grandmother’ or that ‘Romney is going to eliminate every Planned Parenthood’, regardless of whether that’s true.”
The factions of media hold a massive amount of power over politics, and with the presidential election rapidly approaching in , they are pulling their strings more heavily than ever. Through social media, this can have an especially dramatic effect on the teenage population, and, according to Horvit, not necessarily a good one.
Horvit said he learned of Osama Bin Laden’s death through Twitter, a greater reflection of his belief that while social media can be a good place to start, it’s not substantial enough that it should be your only source of information.
Though the 140 characters of Twitter may not seem like much, each tweet musters a surprising amount of power in a generation that grows increasingly reliant on social media outlets like Twitter to gather and share information.
In June, Twitter easily passed half a billion total users and only about 30 percent of those are in America, expanding Twitter’s influence to a global scale.
Hutchinson said when people tweet political opinions, those reading will form opinions based on the messages that comes across their screen and do no further research. Furthermore, when news outlets tweet headlines, the vast majority of people read those headlines and form opinions, never actually going to the news site and reading the article, he said.
The frequent inability of 140 characters to convey truth combined with the mass of people nevertheless forming opinions off of those characters creates a discrepancy between truth and popular opinion.
“I think our generation in general is becoming more used to forming opinions on quick snippets and headlines and catchphrases,” Hutchinson said. “Politics are starting to be based on catchphrases, not on ideas anymore.”
By Urmila Kutikkad
