What happens when two students, equally advanced in Algebra and English, await sharply contrasting futures? They are competitors; they are classmates; they are friends, but on November 5th 2024, their realities parted.
On election day, young men voted for who they believed would lead them to the most prosperous next four years. About 56% of them marked down Donald Trump, a flip from 56% of men who voted for Joe Biden in 2020. And on November 6th, the 60% of women who endorsed Kamala Harris looked across the table and saw betrayal in the forms of neighbors, brothers and boyfriends. And young women looked up at the adult men and saw nothing, for girls had become invisible and therefore discardable. In the years to come, the younger generation will be living from the consequences that this president ensues, not the current voters. We, as children, will reap what they have sowed as adults.
The stakes of this election were much different for teenage girls across the country. For me and my female peers, one of the reasons Donald Trump’s victory was so awful was because it forced us to leave childhood. We were expelled from the comfort that many of our male counterparts get to relish, if only for a little bit longer. If you can get pregnant but don’t want to, you are now in the category of endangered. It doesn’t take a doctor to know this means girls over the age of 11-14. We are facing a future where, in over 20 states, girls effectively forfeit the rights to our own bodies the moment we hit puberty. How’s that for a Bat Mitzvah?
But no matter how different our futures look from those of our male peers, attendance in chemistry and US government classes is still mandatory for all of us. The question we all need to be asking now is: How can our teachers and administrators help us navigate this divide in the years to come, so that it narrows, rather than widens?
My own school often seems like a highlighter of this gender contrast. As a junior, I see it in the divided thought processes of seniors applying for colleges: there are the guys seeking schools with good student-to-teacher ratios and active Greek lives, while many of the girls are simply trying to avoid going to college in a state where she’s forced to carry a child to term.
This is not to say that only females will be affected by the new presidency. Trump’s reign will rattle almost everyone and their neighbor. Time will reveal who gets hit the hardest, but in four years, almost everyone’s lives could shake like a snowglobe.
The question remains: What can schools do when students are thrown upside down? Is there a way high schools can mitigate the turmoil from politics, and ban the chaos at the doors of the building? And, if schools are to be a hive of learning, should the administration censor political talk – or invite it into their classrooms?
As a sixteen-year-old girl, my short answer is: Bring it on. There is too much life that teenagers are living outside of classrooms to make an upcoming history quiz the only thing on their minds. Students are political, whether we consented to this or not. The laws that people in pencil skirts and drab suits make affect every young person, so to tell us to divorce our homework from our reality is unrealistic. But there are ways to make school a safer place for teenagers, without completely erasing the uncomfortable. Here are a few:
- Acknowledge the reality of personal connections, and address the facts. It’s natural for a teacher to want to focus only on the pragmatic, indisputable facts of a political topic, but when discussing subjects that can affect the students in the classroom, it’s crucial to remember that they can be personal. Climate change, abortion, gun violence are not far away issues. They live in the minds of young people, rent free.
- Create identity-based spaces. When certain policies target certain people, the best thing can be for those people to be given a space to be together. Whether it’s an LGBTQ+ affinity group, or a female-identifying one, being reminded that you are not alone is often a light in the dark.
- Provide—or at least try to provide—students with a range of answers. Contrary to popular belief, teenagers don’t know everything! Especially not when it comes to huge, daunting government actions. Let students ask questions about what is on their mind. What are the chances that birth control will be banned next? What if Trump tries to run a third time? What does his victory mean for the future of the climate? Who the heck is Elon Musk and why does he seem like the monster under my bed? It’s ok if the teachers don’t know the answers to all these themselves. But even a little bit of clarity can go a long way for someone who feels like they are drowning in a sea of whirlwind political changes.
- Teach us how to express it- There is a cornucopia of heightened emotions following students after the election, but there are also so many pieces of great literature to be born from this. Synthesis lessons about journalism, invite real writers to come in, support the student newspaper! Build an outlet for the rage and fear that isn’t going away- not for a while. Media literacy and supporting evidence are not things students are taught satiably in most English classes; Teach kids how to write political articles. The best ones are fueled by a fiery passion.
- Let us yap, and let us listen- The worst thing for cultivating knowledge is to suffocate a controversial topic. Bring in experts on subjects that students can’t usually speak about in class: The war in the Middle East, abortion rights, the future of prisons and mass incarceration. Trust teenagers to give weight to topics that we know are heavy, and let us discuss them without the fear of judgment of muzzling. This one can be tricky, but it’s ok to be uncomfortable to a degree. That’s when people grow.
These are just a few suggestions to spark conversation that schools need for the academic and emotional wellbeing of their students, throughout the Trump presidency. If you’re a teacher, ask your students what they need right now. If you’re a student, advocate for what you deserve! I wish there was an answer key for what schools can do to help alleviate the fears of students, but this is a test no one has taken before. All we can do is keep studying, phone a friend for help and remember that it’s ok to fail once or twice before you get a score you’re happy with. There will always be a makeup exam in 2028.
