Pro Con Political parties class

Pro:

Voting is the key to the United States’ political system.

The United States is rank 31 out of 35 in developed countries in voter turnout, according to a 2016 study from Pew Research Center.

The best way to get people to vote is to teach them who they’re voting for and what they are voting on.

“People are more likely to vote if they have information about the candidates and the process of voting,” according to Barry Burden, a political scientist at the University of WisconsinMadison.

American politics have become more partyoriented than ever. Rarely do people aligned with different parties agree with each other.

Many vote for a candidate simply because they have a “D” or “R” next to their name on the ballot. For that reason, teaching people about each party is necessary to ensure that people vote for what they truly believe in.

We need to find a way to get more students interested in voting and politics. Many students say they don’t care about voting, or that it won’t

On The Candidates

affect them even if they do vote.

During the 2014 elections, only 42 percent of 18-24 year olds said they were registered to vote, and just 17 percent of them actually voted in the election, according to Campus Vote Project.

As Barack Obama said, “You wouldn’t let your grandma pick your playlist. Why let her pick your leaders?” bwilliams.roundupnews@gmail.com

Making students more aware of the issues and parties would likely make them want to vote and get involved in the political process.

We also need a class educating people about political parties because two parties aren’t enough to represent all Americans.

According to a Gallup poll from 2016, 57 percent of Americans believe that a third party is needed in the United States.

While the results wouldn’t be immediate, educating more people about the minor parties in the United States could help them grow and eventually get to a point where they have a real chance to win an election.

The future of the United States is dependent on informed and active voters. People won’t vote if they don’t know who and what they’re voting for. It’s time to teach people about the political parties of the United States.

Con: Keep politics

DEVIN MALONE Reporter

There is a place for politics in every school and class, but there should be no room for partisanship, let alone entire classes dedicated to it.

With the current political climate, it is very important for students to be aware of the what’s going on in Washington D.C., as well as the legislative changes that are happening within our own state.

Although, students be very much removed from the pressures of partisan politics as much as possible in order to make their own decisions without their mind being polluted by the opinions of their peers.

This is especially true in regards to current politicized events. Granted, students should be aware of current events, and they should be able to debate with fellow classmates, but they shouldn’t be trained to see issues through a specific lense.

This will only serve to taint the objective facts with partisan dogmas.

In an interview with National Public Radio, Diana Hess, Dean of the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-

Madison and co-author of “The Political Classroom: Evidence and Ethics in Democratic Education,” believes that while teachers should be allowed to share their opinions with the class, they should opt out of showing their partisan bias.

“The practice that we found most troubling, from the study, is what we referred to in the book as political seepage: teachers who make sarcastic comments, who use partisan humor,” Hess said. It's these offhanded comments that are sort of biting and mean-spirited about the political climate that I think is problematic.”

Political classrooms will only serve as a hub for reinforcing old biases and partisanship.

Those who are genuinely interested in learning about a party’s stance on different issues will be outnumbered by those with preconceived notions of another party, and will ultimately reduce the class to something akin to a club for like-minded students.

In the end, there should be no need for a political class. Students should be informed on the current topics and choose for themselves on how to act about it. After all, this is a free country.

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