With the election fast approaching in less than a month, it looks like the whole state of Indiana has summoned their lawn signs to promote their political opinion. As I was traveling to Bloomington, Ind., recently, I noticed how many households actually put up a lawn sign.
I pressed my head against the car window, thinking how riled up the media and conversations have been because the election is becoming closer.
I have read and listened to reporters, political analysts and students criticize every move of politicians from the current president to Indiana ballot candidates. I even witnessed a beggar having a sign asking for money or he will vote Republican and vice versa on the other side.
Indiana is indeed divided with opinions, and so am I.
This election has been shoved in the faces of some teenagers who do not know what to do with the information presented before them. In their mind, the line blurs between Democrat and Republican, and they cannot distinguish what facts separate the two parties.
With commercials and signs supporting or bashing a candidate, teenagers are put under pressure to decide which party to support.
We are surrounded by politics more and more as Election Day becomes closer, as the importance of voting is stressed even if we are not old enough to cast a ballot.
The media try to lure us into thinking the other candidate has only themselves in mind while trying to promote who they think deserves to take the position. At home, parents attempt to convince us which is the “right” party to belong to when deep down, we know we have more similarities with the opposite party.
I’m sure I am speaking for many when I say politics is not easy to understand; even though news channels translate political events into understandable language, there was still plenty said but left out of the segment.
Politics is not a topic for teenagers to become hostile and aggressive about. We are the future of America, and many of us will become officeholders someday, but currently we are teenagers. We are teenagers who would like to explore the political sides without having the daily pressures from home and the media.
I might appreciate the world of politics in years to come, but as of right now, I am certainly not ready to dive into debates and make judgments about candidates with the pressures from the outside hanging above me.
As for the Nov. 6 election, I am quite glad I will not be old enough to cast my vote.
Alex Miskus of Dyer is a senior at Lake Central High School. The opinion expressed in this column is the writer's and not necessarily that of The Times.
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