Quad City Times: First Vote

While many teenagers take on the same political views as their parents, there are also families that push their children to develop their own ideas.”My mom won’t even tell me who she votes for. She’s under the impression that by doing so she would limit my critical thinking,” said Nick De La Cruz, a senior at Davenport Central High School.

When you grow up in the same household as someone, you tend to take on the same ideas. This is exactly what some families are trying to steer away from when it comes to politics. They want their children to create their own values and ideals.

“My parents sometimes talk to me about politics and they think it’s great if I make my own decisions. They’d never make me think what they think,” said Samantha Irey, a junior at Davenport Central High School.

The question is, when they are left to themselves, do teenagers take the initiative to research and come up with their own opinions? Being that teenagers are constantly running around with a million things to worry about, do they take out the time to see what is going on in the world?

“I like to be active in politics, but I feel that I may not be as involved as I should be. I think that youth should pay more attention to world issues and politics,” said Chelsea Rink, a junior at Davenport Central High School.

Katie Oxendine, Davenport Central

Most people believe that my political opinions are solely those of my parents. Really, though, they just provided the foundation for my beliefs. When I was young they never particularly discussed politics. I became globally interested following the attacks on 9/11. This of course had a huge impact on everything I had believed before that, even at 11 years old. Once I turned 14, I watched the Daily Show With Jon Stewart intermittently with Fox News. These two shows had a startling effect on my opinions.

When I asked several of my peers where their opinions originated, they all responded differently. Sammy Stephenson, 18, said, “my political beliefs are mainly reflected off of my parents.” She, unlike me, admits that her parents have a huge role in her politics.

Molly Autumn, 17, says “my parents don’t follow politics as closely as I do.They are more optimistic about the dual-party system and the electoral college than I am.” Autumn described herself as “cynical” about American politics. She said her parents, “really don’t care what I believe but sometimes they fear that my activism is going to get me locked up.”

Do my parents care that I don’t blindly follow their beliefs? We often disagree on things, (I am 17 after all) but this makes no difference to them. In fact, it stimulates intelligent conversation and is a chance for me to learn more.

Stephenson agreed with me in this aspect, “If I were to disagree with my parents on anything we would have a debate on it. In reality though, their opinion of me wouldn’t change over something so trivial.”

Shannon Thompson, Pleasant Valley High School

By the time students reach voting age, they have already felt an immense amount of pressure to pick a political party. This pressure comes from all directions: parents, friends, school, religion, and the media. According to an independent survey done by youthvote.org, 45 percent of young people say that other young people are likely to convince them to vote. High school students may be more inclined to cave to pressure, especially from their families. However students questioned from Scott Community College believe they have made an independent decision when it comes to politics.At an average age of 20, these students feel they have been well informed about the current campaigns and issues, citing the internet and television as their main sources of information. Many stated they had discussed politics with their parents frequently, but felt that issues important to them, such as the war in Iraq, jobs, and education, had more of an effect on their decisions.

A few students also said that the actions of the current administration had affected their stance. Brittaney Sharp, said, “I think you definitely can’t stray from your parents views because their morals and beliefs are usually your morals and beliefs. I think I’ve come to my own conclusions based on what I believe and what’s important to me.”

Brittany Clemens, Scott Community College

When I polled Rock Island High School students about how families influenced their political choices, I was surprised to learn that one roof can cover a wide variety of political opinions.

Seventeen-year-old Lynn Aaronson said that she’s more politically involved than the rest of her family. While they mostly vote on the liberal side, she’s even more supportive of gay rights. But, Lynn insists that “they’re fine with my views.”

Jena Hull was clear about who had the greatest influence: “my parents.” Jena’s thoughts on how this happened? “I hang out with my parents more than with my friends.”

Teens also use technology to figure out their political standings. Donnie Corwin said he took an online quiz to tell him where his ideas lay. He didn’t completely rely on the web, though. His mom, a Democrat, talked a lot about politics before the last election. He found out that she didn’t support a lot of things, like the war, that he did. “I just didn’t agree with her ideas.”

Alex Luppen sums it up: “My family has a lot of different political views; I listen to what I like and try to figure out why I don’t agree with other ideas.”

Amelia Schoeneman, Rock Island High School

Moline senior Jason Hon said “my parents didn’t really influence me, but they did guide me along to tell me to vote in 08″

This is one example of parents not forcing their kids to vote the way they want, but an example of the parents guiding them to make smart decisions. “My values came from home but they were not poured down my throat” Hon said.

Another Moline senior has said “You shouldn’t choose your party or values based on what your parents have but instead you should choose them based on what feels right to you”

David Ballard, Moline High School

At the AARP Democrat Candidate Forum, I saw a familiar face from my school with her mother. Tiffany Villalpando, a junior at West High, credits her mom for an interest in politics.

“My mom got me into getting political, but she left it up to me to choose what I feel,” Villalpando said.

I noticed them agreeing on similar views, signaled by light head nods and applause at the same time.

I don’t think it’s completely on parents’ shoulders whether or not a teen will get involved politically. However, what you do now could get the ball rolling and save our next generation’s voting turnout from sliding to single digits. Regardless of parents’ political beliefs, they will have an impact us as first voters in one way or another.

“If I grew up with both parents being Republicans, I think that would have had an impact,” said Villalpando. “I think my parents would have supported me either way, but living with my mom has influenced me.”

Mark Schwenker, Davenport West