Roving Teen: Teen Voting Views

As the 2024 election season comes to its final stretch, high school students are feeling the crossroads of political engagement and anxiety. While some students are eagerly getting involved in campus activities, others are feeling the heavy weight of polarization on their campuses and school communities. Many can’t cast a ballot yet, but they are increasingly aware of the stakes and challenges posed by the upcoming presidential election. Some students try to navigate the highly charged political atmosphere by openly sharing their views, while others remain silent, fearful of judgment and the pressures of “cancel culture.”

For many high school students, social media is the driving force behind their source of information. Ben Biel, a college freshman at Mira Costa, describes how the political discourse among teenagers is largely shaped by what they see online. “The political information that most high schoolers get is pushed through a social media filter and heavily polarized… We’re voting for characters over political views,” Biel said.

This filtered information often leads to a shallow and distorted understanding of political views, largely based on misinformation and propaganda. Liv Weaver, a high school senior at Torrey Pines, shares her perspective on how many teens form their political opinions.

“It’s so hard to tell what’s real and fake—we have to question everything, even if it’s the side we support,” Weaver said. “When the time actually comes, how much of what these politicians say they are going to do will they actually do?”

While social media serves as a major outlet for intense political expression, high school campuses often remain silent on the subject.

“In high school, people don’t really talk about politics,” Weaver said. “We all think about it, but we don’t talk about it because everything is so tense and judgmental.”

While many students stay silent, others remain observant and active in their political communities. Sarah Kocain, an incoming freshman at UC Berkeley, notes her observations on how high school and college campuses tend to lean.

“Politics nowadays is either far left or far right—the middle ground is disappearing, and it’s causing a lot of tension,” Kocain says. “The most important thing we can do as the younger generation is to be educated and learn about what ideologies and policies certain candidates support.”

Still, despite the uncertainty and tension, some students hold onto a commendable vision for the future. As Weaver puts it, “Even if we can’t vote, our voices matter. The future belongs to us, and we have to be ready to fight for it.”