President Trump: It’s Worse than you think

Layne Donovan
Jul 22, 2017 · 3 min read

President Trumps affect on the next generation.

When I was 8 years old Barack Obama was elected president. I remember watching his inauguration with my 2nd grade class. At the time didn’t understand what was going on, I was only 8. To be honest I was probably just happy that I got a break from spelling words and multiplication tables. But I do remember my parents telling me how far we have come as a country, how great it is that we finally had a African-American president. But still, I really had no idea how amazing this was. It just seems like another man was going to be our president. I held on to this ideology until I was 12 or 13, well into Obama’s second term as president. I wasn’t until I experienced a year of American history and a sudden interest in American Politics, that I finally realized that this really was a historical presidency. The reason that I didn’t understand this sooner is for two main reasons. One, I am white therefore I had never experienced that oppression that African-American have been dealing with for years. Two, the Obama campaign and presidency, for me, normalized the idea that an African-American could not only be president and a good president at that. It was just normal, therefore I never gave it a second thought.

Donald Trump was elected President on November 8th 2016, so the same has occurred. But differently.

Trump won the needed 270 electoral college votes, he was inaugurated in January. From then on he has represented our country. And the same way that as a young girl I watch Obama deliver speeches, a whole generation of kids are watching President Trump on their televisions. The tapes that nearly ended his campaign, featuring his aggressive, salacious words about women, have been played in front of children everywhere since he became president. This means that this whole crop of boys and girls have heard our president, the most powerful man in world, boasting about degrading women.

Just like having a black president was normalized for me, this idea that men can take about women in this manner will be normalized for the next generation. It makes it seem not only okay, but it encourages it. A generalization of boys will learn that this type of aggressive sexual behavior is permitted. But the damage for girls is even more detrimental. A whole generation of girls will learn that is is acceptable for a boy to talk about her like she is nothing but an object.

This Trump presidency is scary, not just because he has little to no foreign policy experience or because his plans will increase the national debt. But because a Trump presidency will appropriate sexual assault for the next generation.

Hillary Clinton was truly the only person standing in the way of this. Hillary Clinton was not perfect, she had plenty of scandals herself. But the truth is no amount of classified emails could possibly compare to what Donald Trump has done and said throughout his campaign. A vote for Donald Trump was a vote against your mother, your niece, your sister. A vote that tells your daughter that it is okay for her to be objectified a vote that tells your son that he is so superior to women. Parents everywhere have always told their kids that they have to be nice, not bully, and respect others. What kind of example are they setting when children see Donald Trump as our president?

Layne Donovan

Written by

I’m a 16 year old high school student with a unique interest in government, history and public policy. I hope to provide a new perspective on political news.

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