Come Tuesday, Nov. 5, every American will be on the edge of their seats waiting to hear who our president will be for the next four years. The ongoing Trump vs. Harris debate that has been plaguing everyone’s minds for the past few weeks will finally come to a monumental conclusion. While our little corner of the United States may swing more one way on the political scale, the US itself is split in half over who should win.
The real question is, depending on who wins, how do we move forward in our day-to-day lives as a community and as a nation?
For some people, it may not be much of a difference whether Trump or Harris wins: they just plan on continuing with their own lives. We can all learn a little from those people because once our president is elected, there isn’t anything we can do except move forward with our lives. Focusing on what could’ve been vs. what is actually happening can be detrimental to moving forward as a country.
Something that we can do, though, is learn from our past to better our future. For instance, we can learn from the past election in 2020, and instead of rioting and not accepting something that we can no longer control we can settle on focusing on what we can control.
As for this election, if Trump wins but there was someone who wanted Harris to win, they can still advocate for reproductive freedom and promote gun control within their community. It would be the same if someone wanted Trump to win but Harris won instead. Either way, just because the candidate they were hoping would win the election lost in the end, doesn’t mean there is nothing you can do to still show your support for them by taking smaller actions within your community.
Ways you can become more involved with some issues that our pesidential candidates are fighting for is by joining a club or student group that focuses on that issue. For instance, the Alliance for Gun Responsibility Club works on promoting safer communities. You can also check out Amnesty Club that helps to raise awareness about human rights. Another club that you can check out if you are wanting to learn more about this election and what it means to vote then you should check out My School Votes Club to become more aware and involved in this year’s election.
While each voter has their own right to choose who they want to be president, trying to enforce those opinions on someone or hating on someone for their own opinion can cause unneeded conflict and can even make people feel like they can’t be vocal about their own thoughts and opinions. Voicing your opinions while also being respectful of others can be hard but something that we as a community at Shorewood can work on when moving forward after this election.
Sometimes, some kids can be more opinionated about the election than others and it’s important to stay respectful of those who are and aren’t as vocal or as opinionated about politics. Just because one individual’s voice is bigger than another’s, when it comes to politics, doesn’t mean that their voice is more important or better than another person’s. Each person has the right to hold their own opinions about the election; whether or not a person cares or doesn’t care about this year’s election is not something that they should be judged for.
Whether you are pro-Trump or pro-Harris, I encourage you to keep an open mind and try to stay positive, whether the presidential candidate that you wanted to win does or doesn’t, about the next four years of their candidacy.
