Presidential Prominence: How Does the Election Affect Malden High School?

Bo Stead and Jessica Li also contributed to this article

In the last eight years, political polarization in the United States has intensified, with both major parties advocating strongly for their respective agendas. The 2024 presidential election takes place in a climate of heightened concern, where one side fears for the future of American democracy, and the other side worries about the nation’s standing on the world stage.

Since Donald Trump’s victory in the 2016 presidential election, a series of defining events have shaped the national landscape, including, but not limited to, the January 6th insurrection of 2021 at the United States Capitol, the tragic toll of the COVID-19 pandemic, nationwide protests for racial justice in 2020, international tensions involving Russia and Ukraine, and ongoing conflicts in the Middle East.

At the beginning of this election cycle, many voters and citizens anticipated a rematch between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, echoing the 2020 race. However, on July 21st, 2024, incumbent Biden announced his withdrawal from the election, which many speculate is a product of the pressure from the Democratic Party. This sparked discussions about his competency in office among voters, especially after what many believed to be a poor debate performance.

Among the notable events in this campaign was the assassination attempt on Trump’s life during a rally in Pennsylvania on July 13. As Trump addressed supporters in Butler, Pennsylvania, a gunman armed with an AR-15 fired shots, one of which grazed the 45th President’s ear. While Trump recovered without serious injury, firefighter Corey Comperatore was tragically struck in the crossfire and later succumbed to his injuries.

Unlike other presidential elections, the running mates have become a deciding factor for many American voters. The Vice-Presidential debate, hosted by CBS News, was remarked as a refreshing change of formality and civility in politics, drawing in an impressive 43 million viewers. 

The nation has seen two completely different administrations and the outcome of this election could make history. Should Trump win, he would become the second president to serve two non-consecutive terms, joining Grover Cleveland. On the other hand, a victory for sitting Vice-President Kamala Harris would mark her as the first female president, first Asian-American president, and second president of color in American history.

Malden High School is one of the most diverse high schools in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, making the student body prone to conflicting opinions. Nevertheless, 77% of Malden High students appear to support Kamala Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz, as the potential future leaders of the country as discovered through a poll shared via The Blue and Gold’s Instagram and Facebook accounts, @theblueandgold.

Despite the dominance of Harris in these polls, there are massive varying opinions across the board over both candidates. Junior Hasnaat Khan believes that this majority opinion derives from the fact that Massachusetts is a well-known blue state and in general, “Republicans are looked down upon,” in Malden High’s student body. 

Adding onto this sentiment, senior Reda Benhafoun stated that “everyone is either too scared to say what they want, or follows the crowd.”

Khan furthered his position by noting he has seen “teachers having a bias, whether they admit it or not.” In a call for action, Khan believes that students at Malden High should consider differing beliefs by recognizing perspectives outside of their own.

Senior Jennifer Slawson believes it is “difficult to teach about politics, especially events that are so relevant in the present, without any sort of bias bleeding through.”

Contrasting Khan’s points, senior Merari Flores believes that Malden High fosters a civil environment where students can have opposing beliefs without bias. However, the same cannot be said with social media where Flores put forth, “social media has such a huge role in presenting information to the people, especially about the candidates and who the target audience is.” 

On a similar note, vice president of History Club and senior Remi Santos believes Malden High’s diversity enables the “difference of points of view, opinions,” and that it is in Malden’s best interest “to have an open mind when it comes to different issues.”

In regards to these different issues, Flores’s positions housing, abortion, and education as the most important factors when evaluating a candidate’s policies. She emphasized, “It’s more about the future generations as it’s getting so much harder to afford college. The same thing goes for housing.” This viewpoint highlights one of the main critiques of Harris—that the details of her policies have not been fully articulated to the public. 

A large focal point of this election has been centered on the topic of abortion. Adding to this conversation, Flores commented that “knowing how a candidate acts towards the topic of abortion lets me know whose interest they have in mind: women’s rights should not be taken away,” hinting at Trump’s vocal stance on abortion.

Slawson added, “As a woman, I am extremely passionate about the freedom of women to make choices about their own bodies and I hope that following the upcoming election will help protect that right.”

Santos adds to Flores’ and Slawson’s comments, stating, “I think Harris is more qualified to be president, and her vice presidential pick Waltz holds similar views to what I support, in comparison to Trump and Vance.”

Akin to Santos, Slawson affirmed her support of Harris, explaining that “just seeing how quickly she was able to pull her campaign together and gather support” gave Slawson “hope in what she can do for the country.”

However, the focal issue of many Americans is the economy. Benhafoun explained that basic necessities have significantly increased “to a point [that] the average American has to find multiple jobs to live paycheck to paycheck.” Upholding his beliefs, Benhafoun calls for increased tariffs on Mexico, China, and Vietnam, in order to “stabilize our economy to a point where young kids can keep that American dream alive.” Expanding upon this, Benhafoun expresses that the declining idealism of young Americans “crushes him inside.”

On the other hand, Trump aims to shift education from being a national matter to a state matter. The 45th president reiterates this commitment to eliminating the federal Department of Education while on his campaign trail and in one of his campaign videos, “Agenda47: President Trump’s Ten Principles For Great Schools Leading To Great Jobs.” Benhafoun reasoned “Trump isn’t perfect, but you can’t argue against his policies, which worked.”

Federal decisions on education funding will significantly impact schools, as will policies on gun control. Gun violence has become one of the leading causes of death for children in the United States, with rates continuing to rise. Harris, a gun owner, still wants to ban assault weapons and take high-capacity magazines often used in mass shootings off the streets. Harris, amidst the school shootings in this country, addressed the need for a more expanded background check system. 

Contrastingly, Trump, who is backed by the National Rifle Association (NRA), believes that every American has the God-given right to protect their families and themselves with firearms. Moreover, Trump vowed to protect “law-abiding” gun owners from having their firearms seized from them. Bump stocks increase the fire rate of a semi-automatic weapon; during Trump’s tenure, his administration voted to ban them, following the Las Vegas Mandalay Bay massacre. 

Malden’s immigrant population makes up 43% of the city’s total residents, making it one of the most immigrant-rich cities in Massachusetts. Another one of the most highly contentious issues for this election is America’s immigration and border control crisis. Republicans criticize the Biden-Harris administration for the eight million encounters with immigrants at the southern border, whereas under the Trump-Pence administration, there were just shy of two and a half million encounters. During debates, Harris often blamed Trump for vetoing a bipartisan border control bill. The spotlight on this action has led some democrats to believe Trump vetoed the bill solely to have an issue to campaign on. In response, Trump argues “It’s a phony deal. It’s a scam. There’s no bill. I never had a bill,” during a recent campaign event with Latino leaders.

English Teacher Leader Yahaira Márquez built off of this, stating that “One of the most important issues is immigration … we have a lot of families that are new to the country and a lot of students who are new to the country.”

Social media platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, and X (formerly known as “Twitter”) have become one of the biggest battlegrounds for winning over young voters in both parties, with 66.7% of students surveyed claiming that they receive their information regarding the election via social media. 

To connect with Generation Z—born between the years of 1997 and 2011—both candidates have embraced trends, podcasts, internet influencers, and celebrities to attract the younger generation of new voters. Trump’s most prominent endorsement comes from Tesla and SpaceX CEO, as well as the owner of X, Elon Musk who has attended and spoken at several rallies. Comparatively, Harris has built momentum among young voters through multiple endorsements and a strong TikTok presence, highlighted by international popstar Taylor Swift’s endorsement and the strategic use of Charli xcx’s “BRAT” album, and the concept of a “BRAT” summer.

On the topic of social media’s role in politics, Slawson cites social platforms as one of the contributing factors “in polarizing our country and preventing any productive conversations.” Apart from this, the accessibility of social media plays a significant part in the spread of misinformation amongst the nation. Slawson supports this by giving insight into her own experiences, “Sometimes when I go on TikTok, I am scrolling through videos so quickly I often do not even comprehend how truthful they are or take an extra second to think about what I am being told.”

Furthermore, modern technology has caused the rapid development of Artificial Intelligence (AI), leading to numerous cases of disinformation that pose risks to voters’ viewpoints and decision-making.

On a separate note, in the previous 2020 presidential election, Malden had 25,757 (73%) of its registered 35,300 voters turn out and cast ballots. Biden-Harris received 19,111 votes and the Trump-Pence ticket had 6,026, further corroborating the claims of how left-leaning the City of Malden is and likely will be for this upcoming election.

With the final days before votes officially close, America has witnessed the burning of ballot boxes and last-minute efforts by candidates to secure votes. However, voting is impossible without you—the reader. If eligible to vote and have already registered before the 26th of October, take time out of your day and make your voice heard by visiting Vote.org. 

And as Scheer states, “the ability to have these tough conversations and to have diversity of thought and opinion is how you move ahead.”