Orcas HS students aware, active in present-day politics

||| BY ELLIE WRIGHT, theORCASONIAN INTERN |||

“The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next.”

This quote is commonly attributed to Abraham Lincoln, and carries a very important message: America will be inherited by Generation Z. The local public school, Orcas Island High School (OIHS) has many politically active students of this generation. Students run an Environmental Club, focused on advocating for environmental stewardship within the community and educating their peers on local and national legislation involving the environment. Other clubs focused on current political and societal issues are Gender Equity, which discusses the interpersonal, societal, and legislative discrepancies between genders, Model UN, which addresses current events through a simulated United Nations meeting, and the Gender and Sexuality Alliance, which focuses on LGBTQIA+ rights and pride.

In 2018, following the Stoneman Douglas school shooting, OIHS students hosted a 17-minute-long walkout, one minute for each of the students killed in the shooting. In 2019, another walkout was organized to protest climate change. After a march around Eastsound and a gathering on the Village Green, students and community members took part in a beach clean-up.

Regarding political views, I sent out a survey to all 152 students enrolled at OIHS, and received 34 responses. Of those responses, 38 percent do not align themselves with any political party, 35 percent align themselves with Democrats, and 12 percent align themselves with Republicans.

This seems to indicate that either students are apolitical and completely uninterested in politics, or they are dissatisfied with the current state of the U.S. government. Further interviews seem to point to the latter. When asked about his approval of President Biden, senior Logan Jones said “he’s better than Trump. But I still wish it was someone else.” This echoes the sentiment of ‘Settle for Biden,’ a popular slogan during the 2020 election. Junior Forest Friedli said, “he has just kind of been there as president…he is a rather ineffective executive force.”

That opinion is also being felt on a national level by young voters. In a survey conducted by the University of Chicago, only 7% of Americans between the ages of 18 and 26 strongly approve of Biden. In the same survey, 64% of voters under 40 reported that they have little to no confidence in the government to make the right decision. Biden hasn’t been connecting well with young voters, or soon-to-be voters.

OIHS students were interviewed and asked what motivates them to stay politically active. Mona Evans, a senior, says that she is motivated by “the idea that I could change the world with my participation in politics. I’m 18 now and registered to vote. I get to vote in this fall’s midterm election and I’m proud to have a voice.” Jefferson Freeman, a junior, says that “I like knowing what’s going on around me…it’s also very interesting.” Most other responses fell somewhere along the lines of those two, wanting to be informed or wanting to have a voice in our government.

This new generation of voters and future politicians will be inheriting some big challenges from generations past. But they are ready and willing to take on the challenge and be the change for the United States of America.