Why Teens Need to Care about Politics and Why Biden Cares for Our Generation
Most teenagers have social media and their feed is full of politics. From friends reposting stories to following news accounts, politics is everywhere. Trump’s and Biden’s platforms flood Youtube ad streams and email inboxes. This obvious prevalence of politicians within the lives of teens is why the phrase “I don’t care for politics” is shocking. Teenagers need to care about politics because politicians like Joe Biden care about the future of our generation.
Teens need to follow politics because candidates like Biden are making policies to support us. By following politics, young people can make an impact on the laws and bills that are enacted. A Biden policy that directly supports youth is his plan to end gun violence in schools. Biden promises to “hold gun manufacturers accountable so they can be held civilly liable for their products.” He furthers this statement by vowing to “end the online sale of firearms and ammunition.” In comparison to Trump’s loose gun reform initiatives, Biden is the obvious choice for the benefit of young people.
Joe Biden also has policies that directly help teen mental health. According to a National Research Council and Institute of Medicine report, up to one in five children in the U.S. experience mental health problems. Shockingly, many children in America are not getting the mental health care they need from trained professionals. Currently, there are 35,000 to 60,000 school therapists and psychologists missing from schools. Biden intends to close this gap. Mental health issues directly affect 20% of youth and Biden’s policies address the issues facing this community head on.
Teens can make a catastrophic impact in this country because of the sheer numbers that this age group holds. The most recent example of the youth impact is the recent mockery at Trump’s Tulsa rally. Many teenagers registered as fake attendees of this rally to ensure that he had a low turnout. According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), almost 15% of the United States population are adolescents. We must use our numbers in an impactful way. More recently, in the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, we’ve seen that many of the most impassioned voices are teenagers. In the primarily Republican voting district of Orange county, a protest led by a high school student attracted thousands. This speaks to the necessity for teens to follow politics because they are infiltrating the system and organizing these powerful events.
Teenagers and Joe Biden have similar interests at heart. Biden cares about supporting young people while Donald Trump supports corporations. Trump has lost the support of teenagers because his policies don’t support them. We have the power to change the world and we must use that. We must support politicians who want to hear the voices of young people. If you’re sixteen, pre-register to vote. If you’re eighteen, vote for the candidate who actually wants to support you.
