Election 2016

I have written columns decrying apathy and ignorance, usually based off some dismal statistics.

Freshman year, I wrote about how 22 percent of the 1,000 American adults surveyed by the McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum could name all five members of the Simpson cartoon family, but only one person could name all five freedoms guaranteed in the First Amendment.

Junior year, I mentioned that 63 percent of Americans ages 18-24 couldn’t find Iraq on a map, despite the fact that our country is fighting a war there. Then there was the new low hit by the national SAT average in 2007, and the disturbing fact that one of five Americans can’t find the United States on a map of the world.

Election year hasn’t done much to revive my faith in the common sense of our society. I mean, one of our vice-presidential candidates thinks Franklin Delano Roosevelt made TV addresses and the other thinks seeing a barren expanse of Russia over the Bering Strait on a clear day makes her a diplomat.

I was feeling pretty pessimistic until I read about the results of two polls conducted by National Geographic Kids Magazine.

Ninety-nine percent of the children surveyed can correctly identify the presidential candidates in this year’s election. Beyond just being aware of who the candidates are, 90 percent of the respondents stated that they had discussed the election with their friends or family. Fifty-two percent said they would vote for Obama if they could, 38 percent said they would vote for McCain, and 10 percent said they could not decide.

This was definitely a pleasant surprise. These numbers indicate a genuine societal awareness amongst American children, which can be nothing but positive.

What’s even better is that this awareness among children is not just a shallow recognition of the political celebrities du jour, they have at least a moderate awareness of the issues facing the country.

The poll showed that 59 percent of kids say ending the war in Iraq is the most important issue for the country today, followed by stopping global warming. Children also seem to have an interest in animal rights and “catching bin Laden.”

While the children in the survey could simply be serving as mouthpieces for the opinions of their parents and other adults around them, the survey results indicate that in addition to familial influence, many of the children have watched the presidential debates and read adult periodicals for their information (including one kid who cited Time magazine).

I could view these poll results as an indicator that children are now being sucked into the whirlwind of partisan hackery that is battering our country these days, but I’m going to take a positive view on it. I am constantly being shown evidence of how apathetic and self-absorbed my peers are, and I find it refreshing to see the younger generation’s engagement with our society.

I can’t wait to see what they do with their votes in Election Year 2016.