A Look Into NSA Student’s Political Opinions - Part 1
By Zoe B.
Politics by View more by lionvision from Getty Images Signature Created in Canva
The year 2024 is an election year, which means that politics is something almost all US citizens are aware of. Whether one wants to hear about what is going on in the political realm or not, it is relatively unavoidable. This means that this is not something only adults care about, but many teenagers and NSA students are involved in politics and keep up with it too. After all, the youth are the generation responsible for shaping the future of the US – so why not explore the policies that matter most to NSA students?
This article will focus on the views of seven specific NSA students who considered themselves knowledgeable enough about politics to answer questions about their beliefs. Noah, Hudson, Silas, Rachel, Avery, Michaela, and a student from Southeast Asia are all current or recent NSA students who considered themselves to be either “reasonably aware” or “very well aware” of US politics. They all spend some time daily or at least a few times a week informing themselves of what’s going on in the political world, whether by listening to podcasts, reading news articles, or discussing with family.
When asked whether their political views are the same as their parents, five out of seven said some variation of yes, while Hudson said no and Noah said that his views are generally more liberal than his parents when it comes to the axis of freedom, but he still has the same general ideas of conservatism as his family.
Relating to that, when asked whether their parents had influenced their political views, all the people who hold the same political views as their parents as well as Noah said yes. However, they generally all agreed that while their parents had influenced their political views, they hadn’t forced it on them. Instead, their parents had informed them, but they had all reached conclusions on their own. On the contrary, Hudson mentioned that his parents had “little to no influence on my perception of politics.”
When it comes to what policies students cared about the most, there were several issues that were repeated by multiple students. Hudson, Avery, Michaela, and the student from Southeast Asia all mentioned illegal immigration or the border crisis, and how this has reached a critical point. They specified that they are not against legal immigration, but right now millions of people are entering the US illegally. They view this as unacceptable, especially because of the safety concerns that this creates with criminals entering the country illegally Michaela also clarified, “I believe that the priorities of the American citizens should be put before those of illegal immigrants seeking to cross our borders.”
However, although most students, and more than half of registered voters, think that illegal immigration is a very important issue that needs to be addressed (Pew Research Center), Silas disagrees. In his own words, “Without slapping a ‘legal’ or ‘illegal’ label on this, I believe that people from other nations should have the ability to safely enter the United States. Immigrants are not an enemy or something we should be afraid of.” He goes about arguing for this in different ways, first by saying how he thinks that undocumented immigrants do not cause copious amounts of crime nor are more dangerous than U.S. citizens. He also mentions how he thinks immigrants do not steal jobs from Americans, since they create more jobs than they fill, and how they are also more likely to start both small and large businesses than American-born citizens. It is important to mention that there is a difference between legal and illegal immigration and that none of the students talking about the issue of immigration are against legal immigration, which is an important part of American culture and the economy. To summarize his views on immigration, Silas says “I do not support the mass-deportation of immigrants or the act of separating children from their parents at the border.”
Along with illegal immigration, abortion was also one of the topics that several students cared deeply about. The student from Southeast Asia, Hudson, Silas, Rachel, and Avery all mentioned how abortion was one of their top issues. In Rachel’s words, “Abortion is the murder of helpless, defenseless human babies. It is wrong.” She also dives deeper into how a politician’s views on abortion affect how she views them by saying, “If I can’t trust a politician to defend the most innocent of human lives, how can I trust them with any other policy or issue? If they won’t defend life, or even acknowledge that a baby in the womb is life, how can we expect them to do the right thing in other areas?” The rest seemed to agree with this. However, when it comes to Silas’ views, he goes a little deeper than just abortion when saying he is “pro-life”: “To me, being pro life does not end with being anti-abortion. I am against abortion, against the death penalty, against civilian ownership of assault weapons, and in full support of stricter gun laws.” He was the only one who mentioned these topics combined with the issue of abortion.
The issue of wars and how the government handles them is one that was on a lot of people’s minds prior to the election. The war between Russia and Ukraine has been going on for more than three years already, and tensions in the Middle East between Israel, Hamas, and Iran are high. Both Hudson and the student from Southeast Asia mentioned this was one of the topics they cared about the most, with the latter saying, “Israel is near and dear to my heart and I don't want to see the US supporting terrorism.” Hudson had a bit of a different approach, saying “I think we should send monetary aid to our allies if it presents a strategic benefit to us.”
One of the issues on a lot of Americans’ minds prior to the election was the economy, and this was also the case with several students. Michaela, Noah, and the student from Southeast Asia all declared that this was something they cared about. Michaela specifically mentioned inflation, explaining how, “In the past three years, inflation has spiked. . . .This left many lower and middle class families struggling to provide basic necessities due to the price hike inflicted on these items.” Hudson also communicated how he cares about reducing welfare programs, which affect the economy.
The issues surrounding the LGBTQ+ community is one that matters to several NSA students, with Rachel, Avery, and Michaela listing it as one of the issues they care the most about. Avery discussed how she wants to protect traditional marriage, as the Bible is against same-sex marriage. Rachel takes issue with the way that relationships that do not honor God and His design are being publicized and normalized, even in places like children’s movies. She dives deeper into it by saying, “I understand that people really do have thoughts and feelings that lead them to deciding they’re gay or trans [...], but why are we supposed to affirm that? The thoughts and feelings of a sinful person do not change physical reality. Our culture is affirming sin in a big way with these issues.” Michaela mentioned how the main thing she cares about when it comes to this topic is gender affirmative care for children, and how “children in our school systems, through social media, and other outlets are being indoctrinated with a philosophy of confusion.” She says how adults have the choice to do whatever they want, but with children it is a different story, saying, “If a child, however, is seeking to transition and their parents and doctors allow them to medically altered, I feel it is wrong and it's only mutilating the child's body and confusing them further.” She ends this by saying how she feels gender affirmative care for children is “a disservice to children who are the future of America.”
There are people who don’t like hearing teenagers discussing politics. They feel that teenagers are not knowledgeable enough to speak, so their opinions can be dismissed by some adults. However, this article shows that there are young people who are confident about their knowledge and can speak on several policies with lots of depth. Political leaders could benefit from listening more to the youth when leading since they are the ones responsible for the future of the country.
Make sure to tune in to Part 2 of this article to find out how the media these students consume affects their views on politics.
Column: 👤NSA People 🔎Informational
Zoe B. lives in Argentina with her parents, dog, and one of two brothers. She is an eleventh grader, and this is her third year at NorthStar but first in the Navigator. In addition to being a writer for the Navigator, she is also one of two Club Coordinators for Student Council and a tutor for High School students. She has been playing sports all her life and is currently a competitive tennis player who dedicates a lot of hours to training and competing around South America.