Viewpoints

Assessing Student Emotions After the 2024 Presidential Election

 The majority of the students in the Blind Brook High School are younger than 18 and have not yet earned the right to vote. This means they weren’t able to partake in the 2024 election. It was also one of the reasons many students were discouraged from closely following the election. Everyone agreed with the fact that not having the power to vote stopped them from following the election as closely as they might have. This does not mean that they wished they could vote, just that in the future their relationship with presidential elections will be different. The effect of not voting has varied per student. 

Some individuals only found information through social media. These students didn’t take the initiative to seek out news about the current politics, since as a freshman stated  “I don’t have a reason to watch, since I can’t vote.” Not having a voice disheartened many students from trying to catch all the news updates about both candidates. On top of not feeling a reason to keep up with the election action, many students felt there wasn’t time to do this and keep up with grades and extracurriculars. Since the election was not a prominent issue to these students, they tried to keep it out of their minds to avoid another stressor. However this is only the opinion of a fraction of the students. 

 Other students disagreed with the statement that there was no reason to stay well informed. Much of the student body are strongly politically inclined. One freshman’s reasoning was “I understand why I can’t vote…I wish I could vote, but it makes sense why I don’t.” He believed that even though his voice won’t get heard during this election, his life is still being impacted and it is important to know what is happening in the world around him that will have ripple effects on the future. Reading articles and watching news reports about both parties and candidates are just two examples of  ways they made sure to have current knowledge on what was happening. Of course, there were also students who were in the middle of both. A junior  “tried to stay a little informed, without obsessing.” He was not the only student to utilize this method when it comes to politics. 

While the majority of students can’t vote there are some who were able to vote for the first time. This was an exciting step into their future. Voters felt a large impact because as a senior said, “Whatever Trump decides to do during his presidency could impact my adult life in one way or another.” Even those who couldn’t vote felt more affected as they are nearing the real world when the president’s actions have a much more direct impact. A common trend was that seniors felt very personally connected to this election regardless of voting status. They are all about to enter college where the effects of elections will have an impact they will need to deal with more readily than they did in childhood.

The relationship a student had with the election definitely impacted their emotions after the results were posted. The people who didn’t follow what happened very closely and didn’t know much about the candidates had a more neutral reaction. The people who followed the election more closely and the people who voted had a stronger reaction. Those in between had varied reactions. The emotions and reactions of those who couldn’t vote would have been stronger and more heightened as voting helps to engage people in politics.