The 2020 race shows our desperate need to value diverse perspectives.                                

By Claire Ferris ’21

Wild insults. Flaming accusations. Backhanded compliments. The occasional praise. These were some of the many factors that contributed to the fascinating spectacle of the 9th Democratic Debate on February 19 in Paradise, Nevada, an event that captured my attention, as well as the attention of approximately 33 million viewers around the country.

I have to admit, the debates are fun to watch; though I enjoy seeing what each candidate has to offer in terms of policy, I’m honestly there to see them throw shade at each other and tiptoe around the topic of age when it comes to presidential candidates. Influenced largely by the emphasis on spectacle, the push for unilateral support for a democratic candidate makes the process move so quickly that a candidate can do incredibly well in one debate and decide to drop out of the race altogether the next morning. As I began to think about the speed at which such an important task is approached, I realized it’s not really out of place considering the fast-paced society in which we live.

In today’s world, it seems like humans are pressured to do more much earlier than previously attempted. This endeavor can prove extremely successful in quickly-evolving fields driven by innovation, but our society’s ever-changing mindset can also cause young people to feel enormous amounts of stress and pressure to grow up quickly. In some cases, growing up has been necessary; with political stagnation on pressing matters such as gun control, youth groups have needed to make vocal efforts in order to push our government into action. But often, the abundance of media coverage on political action can pressure students into making hasty decisions on their political views to feel like they fit into a category or group.

Often, the purpose of encouraging youth education and engagement in political issues is to effectively train the next generation to become the world’s leaders. If this is our goal, we must first ask: what do we want the next generation of leaders to act like? The divisive rhetoric that is present in many American political debates signifies difficulty respecting multiple viewpoints and (at least to some extent) separating politics from the person; instead, candidates resort to attack strategies and demonization of opposing viewpoints to make theirs come out “on top.” In this process, the potential leaders of our country teach America’s youth a dangerous message: there’s only one correct viewpoint, and all others can be dismissed in order to win.

With a large inheritance of complex issues that point to increasingly less obvious solutions, our generation’s leaders are going to need to be willing to compromise and understand many different viewpoints and sides to arguments. Encouraging political engagement in high school is extremely important to ensuring that our generation grows up to be informed and prepared to vote and make decisions, but I don’t think enough time is devoted to education on all facets of political issues, so students feel like there are multiple valid perceptions they could possess.

Cary Academy has already made strides toward increased acceptance of multiple viewpoints, including the introduction of new ideological clubs on campus, though honest, peaceful political debate seems sparse. Perhaps the most important aspect of teaching a collaborative approach to global problem solving is to reduce the element of competition in our school’s society. Whether acknowledged or not, winning seems to heavily influence students’ actions. Currently, winning seems to encompass unilateral or individual actions; what if we altered our school’s definition of winning, thus altering its definition of competition? What if winning could be seen as creating long-lasting connections and collaborative initiatives between groups that have seemingly nothing in common? New initiatives to encourage diverse thought and inclusion on campus are certainly a step in the right direction, but the challenge to these initiatives will inevitably come with ensuring we don’t oversimplify ideas and reduce our peers to certain aspects of their core values.

High school students, including CA students, have the right to be sassy on political matters, but hopefully placing an overall emphasis on collaboration and understanding for the upcoming generation of leaders will allow the current leaders to change our most frustrating and divisive period in history. Now is the time for reform and advancement in political dialogue. We must approach our obligation to step up with urgency and incredible care, for it is with great opportunity for learning, gravitas, and potential that our generation could come to power peacefully and willing to take on the complex issues of the twenty-first century.