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Ongoing Election Reflection: Teens’ Perspectives, Part 1

This is the first of two parts of an interview with five Branford High School seniors, who shared their thoughts on the 2016 election and moving forward.

Sally E. Bahner Photo

(L-R):Jack Nelson, Spencer Mariotti, Sean Williams, Hilliard Wolfe, Mauro Aceves

A conversation with several Branford High School teens about the 2016 election and events since then yielded some interesting perspectives… and surprises. In particular, there was Sean Williams, who voted for Donald Trump, but quickly experienced voter’s remorse, so much so that he will be interning for Democratic Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro this summer.

While the image of today’s teen is one of head down, eyes fixed on cell phone and conversing in emojis, nothing could be further from the truth among these kids.

Add their voices – articulate, informed and concerned – to those struggling with the aftermath of this election. They discussed their influences, world views, news sources, and worries about the future.

Two of the five, Spencer Mariotti and Williams, were able to vote in the November election. But three others, who were not eligible to vote – Hilliard Wolfe, Jack Nelson, Mauro Aceves – were articulate and have formed educated opinions about the outcome and the future. Unfortunately, although we reached out to the teens in general, no young women were present due to scheduling conflicts.

All five are senior presidents of the 2017 Model Congress (there are 12 in all), in which students take on various political roles and debate other high school students from all over the country on topics related to democracy. Their advisor is James Petela, a social studies teacher.

Who They Voted For

Mariotti, Model Congress president, supported Bernie Sanders at first and then Hillary Clinton. However, at the Model Congress he had to defend the Republican National Committee’s platform, in which he had to put a favorable perspective on anything put forth.

Williams, who was the surprise in the group, voted for Trump, but he soon rethought his choice. He said he came from a military family, who is Republican, and was influenced by them; they get their news from Fox News. During a discussion in his AP English class led by Maria Ogren the day after the election, he said, She talked to us about the election. She led us to express what we’re looking forward to and what we’re not looking forward to about the current presidency… looking back on that I regret my decision, but also I feel that my vote doesn’t matter as a person in one of the most liberal states in America, so I feel my vote was kind of voided.”

Williams added, When I started to dive into social and economic issues I realized I don’t agree at all with Trump – seeing what he is doing right now – health care, tax reform, the EPA – I’m regretting a lot of it because those are programs we need.

Seeing these taken away from the American people is very sad to me… the impact on the environment in the next few years is devastating to me.”

However, Williams is channeling his new found activism into the Democratic party – he will be interning for Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro this summer.

It was a very divided election,” he said.

Mariotti asked Williams, When you voted for him [Trump], was it rolling the dice and betting he would do the opposite of what he says? You can make the argument that he’s so erratic that he doesn’t have any policy preferences … a lot of people did do that – not take him literally.”

Williams replied, Just because I had one vote, I didn’t think it would have an impact. I didn’t think he would win at all – I voted for [Ohio Gov. John] Kasich in the primary. Everyone thought he was just a joke… not a politician, a businessman, but that’s what attracted more people to him… a lot of people associate corruption with politicians and they were tired of that.”

Aceves said, Yes, the idea that my vote doesn’t count … at that point it’s almost dangerous when people think like that because people are saying they don’t care who wins … it’s a trend that’s dangerous.”

He noted that one of the positive outcomes is that more people are involved in politics. We live in a democracy. We can’t take that for granted… we’re letting our politicians know what we want.”

Like Mariotti, Mauro said he originally supported Bernie Sanders, then Hillary Clinton. A lot of kids went with Bernie to start with,” he said.

Mariotti said, Most couldn’t vote or didn’t care to vote in the primary.”

Wolfe described himself as kind of a contrarian, so I really didn’t like Clinton. I really didn’t like Trump. I kind of didn’t like Bernie Sanders, but I’d probably support him… toward the end I realized Hillary Clinton was the most viable candidate for the job out of all of them.”

Nelson, however, supported Clinton from the start, mostly because of the social aspect… I never picked up on the Bernie campaign… something about her campaign I was really led to her because of the social issues… emphasizing acceptance.”

News Sources

Aceves said he follows CNN and various newspapers. You have to seek the truth and not be afraid of it by going beyond the news sources and find it for yourself,” he said. He believes that Trump supporters, by getting behind him and saying whatever he says is true, is discrediting, demonizing media organizations.

Williams said he reads the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times.

Wolfe looks at politics from an international perspective. He said he follows independent/international sources on social media, such as the BBC, Washington Post (he likes its new slogan, Democracy Dies in Darkness”), RT News, and French and German news sources. The media is more important than Trump makes it seem… denouncing it when you’re wrong,” he said.

He believes that Trump is part of the il-liberal democracy” and de-democratization” as seen in the rise of Orban in Hungary, who has created an oligarchy and denounced the media; the far right politics of France’s Marine Le Pen (whose father was a Holocaust denier and who lost on Sunday to centrist Emmanuel Macron); the NDP party in Germany, and the PVV party in the Netherlands. He noted that the polls of most other countries favored Clinton, while 70 percent of Russians favored Trump.

Mariotti thought Trump would lose to Clinton, but in the long run, he believed that Trumpism would beat out Clintonism because of the trend of festering racial resentment … the far right [has] given them permission.”

But Wolfe thinks a push back may be taking placing, citing the Austrian election. A far right candidate who founded a neo-Nazi party earned 49 percent of the vote in an election held before our election; he earned just 43 percent in a run-off election held after our election.

A lot of people will be hurt in the short run,” Mariotti said. He’s insulted everyone in the world – he put demagoguery in a suit.”

Parents’ Views vs. Their Views

While Williams’s military family influenced his choice, Nelson said his choice was his own.

My views are counter to my parents…. my views don’t reflect my parents,” Nelson said. They have a more conservative outlook on politics and for a long time I would go along with them, figuring they know what’s best for the country… From the start they supported Donald Trump and I couldn’t understand why – from that arose a very interesting conversation that didn’t end until … it still hasn’t ended.”

When asked what they thought now about Trump, Nelson said, I asked my mother… she said he might be getting a lot of flak for the things going on, but she still doesn’t see that many issues… she’s definitely more middle ground than my father but that’s what she was raised believing.”

He added, There’s a point in time in your life where you’re able to start making decisions and start thinking about your own beliefs. What year that happens varies for everyone.”

The Political Atmosphere in School and Beyond

Nelson said he never saw any major instances about a lack of acceptance. He did see a lack of talking ground (he often hangs out with the musical kids)… No one has felt isolated or bullied… that’s what’s important.”

Accountability is a big concern for him. He said that there have been open conversations” and it’s important to hold each other accountable for the things that go on in the government and in general. I’m trying to hold myself accountable and those around me accountable,” he said. From the big events, I haven’t seen as much as I wanted in terms of accountability … the continuation of things like that in everyday life in terms of positive change, acceptance, opportunity.”

If the checks and balances don’t work, then we’re doing something wrong…”

Wolfe, who worked with the refugee settlement group at the First Congregational Church, said he’s never seen any harassment.

Mariotti noted that the closest confrontation he had was a Trump flyer placed on his van, which has Bernie stickers on it.

Taking the Bus

It’s easy for people to be isolated, in a bubble,” he said.

Mariotti said he worked in Madison for the past two years and took the bus. With the banality coming from white suburbia, it was unbelievably informative and helped me become cognizant of different struggles,” he said, adding that people from New Haven coming out for jobs were carpenters, single moms, Latinos. He said he made some friends. It was a remarkable lesson in variance of the American experience,” he said. It’s fundamentally different growing up in Fair Haven versus growing up in Branford, and Madison is clearest contrast. They’re all good hardworking people with different opinions politically. They all contribute to same community.” He said he had a similar experience when he worked in community dining room.

Part 2: The thoughts of five Branford High School teens on women’s issues, local politics, and the future.

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