As high schoolers we are expected for many reasons to be unconcerned with politics: we have school assignments, jobs, and fleeting time to remain kids before we enter the adult world. Despite this, the era that America was plunged into following Donald Trump’s election in 2016 has lead many of us across the country to become highly politically engaged- as we always should have been. The difficult part of this swift change from a life devoid of interest in politics to a country hounded and plagued by it is that many of the youth have been forced into their opinions by their families, their peers, and sometimes even by their academics. A crucial hole in the opinions of many people- not only the youth- is dug by egocentrism and selfish perspectives; it not as common as it needs to be for people to express empathy and have a rounded understanding of political issues before jumping to partisan conclusions that have been echoed across social media and the news. It has never been as important as it is now to change the way our generation sees and enters into politics.

Our country is being held back by politicians and influential white men who embody an era that has long passed, who drag their feet to their departure and in consequence prevent our futures from moving forward. After hundreds and hundreds of lives have been lost around the nation due to gun violence, our government is hand in hand with the NRA, and for the sake of money nothing has been done to protect us. They attack our friends and peers who are immigrants and whose families have lost everything- their money, their lives, their dignity- to work for a job that pays far from anything sustainable. They ignore a deadly epidemic of addiction that big businesses had a pivotal role in creating. They seek to take women’s bodies back from us and regain their control. It is for each of these reasons and hundreds more that our generation should be the first step for change.