Political relevance among the nation’s youth has been on the rise since Donald Trump emerged on his iconic golden escalator. He walked into the spotlight of politics in 2015 and never left. Trump is a name in every household for numerous reasons, such as these elections and the acts that occurred both during and after them. Whether you like the man or not, his name is always in the mix of something going on in the news. We as students, should have the ability to, as a collective, discuss him and all other politically affiliated issues and events. 

This year, we lost our politics club, civics club, and proposed politically associated clubs due to the ‘times nowadays being too much’ and the representation of the clubs not being enough. I sat in on all these clubs and saw pure representation that has been confused with passionate deliberations. The way the world is today is a perfect example of why it is so important to have a space to conduct discussions. The world around us being ‘too much’ is a prime reason to orchestrate these types of clubs, not shut them down because we are afraid of a little controversy. 

Greenhills is a school associated with a safe space of discourse and learning, so following that notion, we should have the ability to conduct clubs regarding more than just playing cards or video games for fun. We should also be free to discuss the difficult things like politics, civics, and today’s news. Sitting in a corner talking with your friends about harsh matters leaves room for fighting and arguments, which can further lead to resentment and hatred toward people who were once friends. Inside a classroom, such as history or government classes, don’t allow these types of discussions because the classes are more focused on the curriculum rather than outside input. Having a room to conduct discussions and debates about controversial topics where you are able to get furious and show your harsh emotions in a respectful manner is, in my opinion, so incredibly crucial in today’s world. Regulations by staff are an important detail to these clubs and are needed to regulate out-of-hand actions, and should also be incorporated when creating such clubs. But the overall idea of creating a space for students who are truly just young voters to discuss the ‘hard things’ is imperative to strengthen our community and thus our youth in this country.

The overall goal of politically affiliated clubs is to give students a space to talk with other people about the things that we, nowadays, are told are “too controversial” and “should stay out of school.” Over this past summer, I had the incredible experience of going to Brown Pre-College and learn about politics and government for two weeks. When I lived there, I walked in with my opinions and beliefs in hand, not expecting to meet a single person who would want to actually talk about them, rather than fight and tell me how my opinions are wrong and ridiculous. I was pleasantly surprised and met with dozens of people who were ecstatic to debate with me. It was truly a beautiful experience and setting to be in. On the first day of class, we all took a test and found out what type of demographic we leaned closest to. This is one of the most controversial things you could do, especially with kids, yet it is what we did. Following the test results, we as a class put them on the board for everyone to see, which, as it sounds, put everyone in the class on blast. This exercise brought up a lot of emotions and feelings regarding other people’s stances and what they could more directly represent. So naturally, the next thing we did was talk about it and let people share out about their opinions on the exercise. Activities like that don’t happen in classes today because they are “too controversial.” My teachers at Brown said they loved controversy because it meant that people talked about it, and that is the best way to learn and to discuss. Clubs that are politically affiliated and focus on discourse and debate can represent similar concepts and allow the same teachings I saw at Brown. We were taught to learn other people’s sides and be open-minded, and to just simply listen to everyone and then converse on the matter instead of just keeping quiet because it might be more socially acceptable. 

Political clubs are an asset to education because I believe that we, as a young and powerful nation, should speak and feel allowed to talk about any and everything we wish to. Without a place to respectfully talk, we get polarization, which has been taking over the country every day. Training our young nation now is a focus all schools should have, and most actually do. In 2022, a survey was done by the National Youth Rights Association that states 62 percent of public schools offer a politically affiliated extracurricular activity. Schools want to give students a space to share their difficult opinions on these tough subjects. So, if this is the case, why can’t we, as a private school, do the same?

Greenhills states in its bylaws that we aren’t allowed to have politically affiliated clubs in action, according to staff members. This seems contradictory, seeing as that Model UN and Ethics Bowl have a political relationship, and they are functioning fully and well. We lost our politically affiliated clubs due to outside pressures and fears from others’ opinions and social risks. These lost clubs don’t bring in college recognition, nor do they bring in funding or awards. They are more so for the students and are an outlet for them, with this being their purpose, it is suitably easier to take them down than activity groups that bring in so many official benefits. But at what point do we focus too much on the flashy benefits over the bigger picture of importance? The fact that these activities can exist with the bylaws staff claims to have written is plain unfair. 

Furthermore, how is it possible to have a politics club last so long and now just get shut down? The sugar coating of ‘the world is becoming too much now’ is a difficult tone to take with a case like this. If anything, while the world is at such a strong and high point, this is the time more than ever to speak up and talk about things. Show your true feelings and be vocal about the world around you instead of dancing around the controversial aspects and being afraid of what might be thought of you.

The politically affiliated clubs’ shutdown is a disgrace to the means by which Greenhills claims they honor. We are supposed to be a school of diversity, discussion, and welcome, and yet staff are claiming our bylaws state that we aren’t allowed to have political clubs, and they are going as far as to ban them for the year because the outside world is becoming a ‘touchy subject.’ Sorry to say, but the world has been and will continue to be a touchy subject, so we might as well speak our truths and advocate for ourselves, especially as a group of young scholars who are being trained to be one of a kind. As the late Charlie Kirk, a political activist, once said, “When people stop talking, that’s when violence happens”. We should have the right to hold political clubs of all manners at Greenhills and partake in the simple act of talking.