Why Teenagers Hate Donald Trump
Disclaimer: I am not Donald Trump’s biggest fan nor do I dislike him. I believe that I am one of the few teenagers who feel that way.
The process to select a Republican nominee has seemed long and grueling, but the candidates have a long way to go until they cross the finish line. Since the race started, way back in August of 2015, teenagers have made fun of Trump because of…what exactly? In every circumstance, without fail, my teenaged peers sneer, make fun of, and dismiss Trump as soon as his name is mentioned. It happens every single time.
Before I get ahead of myself, I am well aware that a good amount of teenagers are politically educated and dislike Trump because of his ideologies, but a good amount dislike him for other reasons.
Speaking from experience, the pressure that high schoolers feel to be ‘cool’ is above all else and becomes a first priority. It goes without saying that Trump, an older and politically incorrect conservative, does not exactly fit that image. Generally speaking, young people are more attracted to liberal ideologies. These ideologies often incorporate new and ‘accepting’ ideas and appeal to the emotions rather than pure logic. And teenagers are very, VERY emotional.
Trump, as mentioned before, is politically incorrect. In fact, politically incorrect is an understatement. He makes a point of being so. He has spoken out against illegal immigrants in a way that has gotten him the news. But that is just the thing. It is the only thing that (most) teenagers see of Trump, the part that gets in the news. People watch news for the pure entertainment value of it. Trump easily has the most entertainment value over any other nominee by far. Therefore, he gets the most coverage, and the most negative coverage. In my experience, most teenagers who hate Trump hate him because of what they don’t know. Most times when I ask about what ideologies of his they don’t like, they themselves do not know.
It is fair to say that a good amount of teenagers do not watch the news regularly. But, teenagers are very in-tune with social media and will see anything that is popular. Trump’s politically incorrect statements are always surfacing on social media because young people love to hate Trump because of the ‘cool’ factor.
The media influences what we think more than we know. I missed a Republican debate in the middle of the storm, and the negative media heavily influenced my feelings on Trump during the time in which I was not paying any attention to the news. I started hating him. As soon as I watched the next debate, I realized that my political beliefs aligned with his, I just didn’t like his maturity and the way he carried himself. In the interum, the media influenced me negative feelings toward him and had the most impact on my opinion. I think this is true for others as well.
It is vital to elect a President with a high maturity level who will be able to negotiate without demeaning. That is where my attraction is lost with Donald Trump, not with his politics.