High schoolers are getting involved in the political action

By Kelsey Parker ’20
@KelseyParkerM

Asking an average high school student about politics, is like asking an average 10 year old about multiplication. They’re starting to learn about it and could figure it out with a little bit of practice or research, but if you just ask them to answer you right away they might only understand a little bit.

There are the above average and below average students. The above tend to know it all, or say they know it all, they like to be the center or leader of a conversation. Typically they are very informative and really good to listen to. You can learn a lot from these type of high school students.

Then there is the below average high schooler. They sometimes talk and talk until you become dumber from listening to them; or they are silent because they don’t know a lot about politics.

There are also the quiet ones. They know a lot, they are intelligent, but they don’t talk about what they know because sometimes they are afraid of what someone will say to them about their opinions. Sometimes they are quiet because they are afraid of being wrong.

Knowing everything about politics is not necessary unless you are planning on becoming a politician. Being knowledgable enough to be able to vote, or to have a conversation with someone works. You don’t have to be a genius or know how many kids Donald Trump has, or how many states Hillary Clinton has won, or how many years Bernie Sanders has been Senator of Vermont.

It’s not necessary to know every detail, just the baseline is fine. Most, if not all high schoolers have at least that amount of political knowledge.

Kelsey Parker is an incoming freshman at Franklin Pierce University and will be a Health Sciences major. She is from Dummerston, VT. Follow her adventures at the Republican National Convention with @PoliticsFitzU on Twitter.