Highschool Seniors And The Elections

[BigJon16]

Sup, Pham.


I am writing an article for my school newspaper about the kinds of things that high school seniors, who are on the verge of entering into the 'cold, real world' and/or college should be looking at in this years election.

Things like:

Who is the best candidate for someone who will be faced with economic decisions and effects that hadn't pertained to them before? i.e. taxes, student loans, job secruity


What are the major important economic differences between Romney and Obama that I should care about?


As a senior in high school, why should I care about politics?




I am having a bit of writers block, and need some assistance.


Thanks, guys!

[Anomaly]

[quote name='BigJon16' timestamp='1350302543' post='2493606']
Sup, Pham.


I am writing an article for my school newspaper about the kinds of things that high school seniors, who are on the verge of entering into the 'cold, real world' and/or college should be looking at in this years election.

Things like:

Who is the best candidate for someone who will be faced with economic decisions and effects that hadn't pertained to them before? i.e. taxes, student loans, job secruity


What are the major important economic differences between Romney and Obama that I should care about?


As a senior in high school, why should I care about politics?




I am having a bit of writers block, and need some assistance.


Thanks, guys!
[/quote]You have too broad of topics.
Delicate situation and you don't "know" who or what would be best. Both candidates have opinion why they would. Their impact on the future is mostly subjective and speculative.

However, "Why they should care about politics" would be a great topic.
A couple of ideas:
-Government[b] for [/b]the people also includes the requisite [b]by [/b]the people. They have to get involved and understand who and what they're voting for. A good conversation to have. Don't know what type of history buff you are, but the influences of the need for representation in Government is what drove the American Revolution are not usually thought about.
-Local Government is where individual involvement is most influential. A few links to where they may get info on local issues, would be a good aid. Newspapers usually have on-line summaries, State voter registration sites should be able to provide local ballot samples, League of Women Voters often has infor for State issues.

[BigJon16]

[quote name='Anomaly' timestamp='1350304130' post='2493609']
However, "Why they should care about politics" would be a great topic.
A couple of ideas:
-Government[b] for [/b]the people also includes the requisite [b]by [/b]the people. They have to get involved and understand who and what they're voting for. A good conversation to have. Don't know what type of history buff you are, but the influences of the need for representation in Government is what drove the American Revolution are not usually thought about.
-Local Government is where individual involvement is most influential. A few links to where they may get info on local issues, would be a good aid. Newspapers usually have on-line summaries, State voter registration sites should be able to provide local ballot samples, League of Women Voters often has infor for State issues.
[/quote]

Cool.

Thanks!



This is topic that is the easiest for me, and I already have it typed up, but I also feel like I should also write a bit to help my fellow seniors in forming their opinions. It's sort of like me telling them that it is importnant to pay attention and make an informed vote, and also giveing them some a bit of headstart information to go off of.


Or maybe just tips on making an informed opinion?


We'll see.

[Anomaly]

Tips on a process for informing yourself.
-Find out who and what is on your Local ballot from the local voter registration website.
-Do a google search for "pro- amendment #??" and "con- amendment #??" or canidate, judge, etc.

There's ballotpedia, judgepedia, and all sorts of websites. Doing a pro/con search will give you both sides.

Being involved in local issues is important. For example, while Abortion is a National Issue, it is also a State issue. In Florida, Abortion is a topic that is being addressed as an ammendment to the State Constitution, Amendment 6. If people don't vote on a local level, the national party will see it as relatively unimportant. If it is heavy one way or the other, it identifies a group of people that it matters to, and then identifies a distinct group of people who have an opinion, and they may be pandered to by politicians for votes,.

Here's an excerpt for the Florida Amendment 6 from balletpedia.com :
[quote]The summary of the measure reads as follows: [i]This proposed amendment provides that public funds may not be expended for any abortion or for health-benefits coverage that includes coverage of abortion. This prohibition does not apply to an expenditure required by federal law, a case in which a woman suffers from a physical disorder, physical injury, or physical illness that would place her in danger of death unless an abortion is performed, or a case of rape or incest. This proposed amendment provides that the State Constitution may not be interpreted to create broader rights to an abortion than those contained in the United States Constitution. With respect to abortion, this proposed amendment overrules court decisions which conclude that the right of privacy under Article I, Section 23 of the State Constitution is broader in scope than that of the United States Constitution.[/i][sup][url="http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/Florida_Abortion,_Amendment_6_(2012)#cite_note-2"][size="2"][3][/size][/url][/sup]
[b] Constitutional changes[/b]

If enacted by voters, the measure would create Section 28, Article 1 of the [url="http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/Florida_Constitution"]Florida Constitution[/url]. To read the full text of the constitutional changes, click [url="http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2011/1179/BillText/er/HTML"]here[/url] [/quote]

[GregorMendel]

I would have loved to have partaken in a discussion about the potential future growth and return of particular majors as a high school senior. I'm willing to bet that most of your class will be matriculating into a two or four year institution of higher education next year, and given many of those students may be unsure of their future career path, perhaps you might inform your peers of the potential growth, as well as the general policy decisions or economic trends, which might benefit one major/career over another.

For example, Architecture and Education majors represent careers directly impacted by the growth of the economy (architecture majors have the highest unemployment rates of recent grads) and domestic policy (just google "Wisconsin Teachers Unions"), compared to Geology or Petroleum Engineering majors, who exhibit the lowest unemployment rates and the highest starting/midcareer salaries, for obvious economic reasons.

A great place to start is the[url="http://www.bls.gov/"] US Bureau of Labor Statistics.[/url]

Edited October 15, 2012 by GregorMendel

[StaroftheSea]

As for why we seniors should care about politics (taken straight from my Gov class, slightly condensed):

Our democracy, by its very nature, depends on educated voting citizens. Those privileges and rights we enjoy are here because some people took the effort and time to get involved in politics and try to ensure a better life for all involved. Or, on a slightly more selfish note: you can't really complain about what the politicians are doing if you are doing nothing about it as a voting citizen.

As for the economic questions, I would encourage your readers to first look at the relationships between the federal government and the economy. What do they think should be the proper balance of power? What do they think is constitutional, and why? Then look at the theories and statistics. Because, in my humble opinion, that's what a lot of the debate is based on.

I hope this helps.

[StaroftheSea]

As for why we seniors should care about politics (taken straight from my Gov class, slightly condensed):

Our democracy, by its very nature, depends on educated voting citizens. Those privileges and rights we enjoy are here because some people took the effort and time to get involved in politics and try to ensure a better life for all involved. Or, on a slightly more selfish note: you can't really complain about what the politicians are doing if you are doing nothing about it as a voting citizen.

As for the economic questions, I would encourage your readers to first look at the relationships between the federal government and the economy. What do they think should be the proper balance of power? What do they think is constitutional, and why? Then look at the theories and statistics on what works and what doesn't. Because, in my humble opinion, that's what a lot of the debate is based on, and thinking about that is the first step towards forming an opinion about the economic policies of a particular candidate.

I hope this helps.