During their sixth-period class, junior Jake Sklias and sophomore Siena McCarthy can be heard above the chatter of the class. As their voices get louder, members of the class turn their ears towards them, eager to catch a snatch of their conversation. However, their fervent discussion is not about a topic one might expect from a typical high school student. Sklias and McCarthy are not discussing last Friday’s football game, the tests they have this week or how hard it is to get Zach Bryan tickets. They are talking about something which, in recent years, has become an increasingly polarizing topic: politics.
In recent years, political viewpoints have become skewed further to the political left and right than ever before, leading to, in students’ minds, an ineffective government. A major cause of this inefficiency is legislative gridlock caused by, on a national scale, an unwillingness of Congress members of opposing parties to collaborate on legislation. “I think polarization is a problem because it creates stalemates in Congress where nothing ever gets done,” Sklias said.
McCarthy agrees with Sklias and believes politicians need to put their beliefs aside to create legislation that is beneficial to Americans. “I think we are too separated as a country and need to come together and compromise,” McCarthy said.
Students are frustrated with the lack of collaboration between policymakers and believe the main cause is the fact that there are so many extreme positions associated with being a Democrat or a Republican. “When you identify with a party you’re considered to be on one side and hold certain positions, even if you don’t agree with everything the party stands for,” McCarthy said.
This stereotype can perpetuate the problem, as the longer a person is surrounded by and associated with certain values, the more likely they are to adopt them. Regardless of the political polarization she has observed, McCarthy believes in values on either side of the political spectrum and identifies as independent. “While I think that the government should be spending less, I agree [with Democrats] that the environment should be one of our biggest concerns. I don’t want to identify with a party because there are so many ideas that are associated with each one,” McCarthy said.
Students who do associate with certain parties have similar opinions about polarization to McCarthy. “I am a Republican on issues like abortion and the economy but I also think we need to have more background checks before buying a gun. Just because I’m a Republican doesn’t mean I support every single Republican position. I think Democrats and Republicans need to work together more, especially for the economy,” senior Giovanni De Angelis said.
As polarization continues to worsen, both students and teachers want the country to find a solution. “We need to get back to actually working towards a compromise which you can’t have when there are people demonizing the other side,” AP Government teacher Christopher McTamany said.
Sklias had similar thoughts to McTamany. “Real issues are buried when people nitpick every idea about a party,” Sklias said.
