#DailyDons: Do Politics Matter?

This week we walked around campus and asked students if politics matter to them? Politics nowadays are being pushed to apply or grab the attention of young adults. But do they even care or show an interest in politics and being politically informed?

Juliana Covarrobias

Major: Fashion

“Yes, they do, because it’s important to have a leader who is going to point your country in the right direction. I agree more with the Democratic party because I feel like our views are more similar than my views compared to Republicans. I think people around this age group should be more informed. We are the future of the country so I think it’s important and that they should know what’s going on. Many would agree that the president now and the stuff that is going on with the country is not where we want it to be. Voting is very important, get registered to vote to get your voice out there, we are very fortunate to have that voice. We can vote and have a say in what happens in our country, but we need to step up and do that. When I hit 16 I wanted to be more aware of what was going on. That was also when President Trump was getting more into our country and more into politics. That’s when I became more aware since I was very concerned about what will happen with the current president. I do encourage my family and friends to know their rights, what’s going on and to vote. The political climate now is not great but I do hope we can do better in the future.”

Derenne Sanchez

Major: Art

“Yeah to an extent. I don’t usually get involved with politics but a lot of times they do result in how people live and that’s the backlash that comes from politics. I try to be informed but discussing with other people is hard because there are some people that refuse to see anyone else’s views on things. Some people grow up believing a certain way so they’re not able to sympathize with others. I think that a lot of young people do get involved with politics. You see a lot of issues like gun control and global warming and it’s a bunch of younger people involved. For young people to get more involved, issues have to affect them, those groups have to have experiences with them. You see more people advocate for things that they believe in if it affects them.”

Dayshawn

Major: Undecided

“Not really. I’m more based on me and what’s going on with myself. They do affect the world and what revolves around the world but for me no. Politics aren’t put out there as much, it doesn’t come out on my phone like on Instagram. I feel like it’s not really thrown out there as much. Politics should be put out on school, if they put it out on high school then younger people will have no other choice but to pay attention, so when they go to college they’re already taught that or at least have some background on it. Politics should focus more on problems that are going on nowadays like trading. I can’t honestly say which party I affiliate with because I don’t know the meaning of either of them.”

Archie Gutierrez

Major: Communications

“To a certain point, I think that it all depends on what’s going to happen to us, people in Santa Ana. People say that politics don’t matter but it depends. Are we talking about the federal government or are we talking about our city? If it’s our city then yeah because that affects us directly. If it’s presidential then I don’t think it matters much. If I were to see a law or passing that directly affects college students then maybe I would pay more attention to politics because it shows that they’re thinking about me. Most young people are more focused on other things like Instagram, going on social media, or watching videos versus what is really happening to the world. People should take the time of their day to look up what’s going on in our city and state.”

Flor Hernandez

Major: Psychology

“They don’t really matter to me. I feel like that creates a lot of tension between a group of friends. Right now I feel like young people don’t really have an idea of what politics are, it confuses a lot of us. If there was a group of people who give their honest opinion on things in actual honesty and stay true to their word, it would be a really great reason for young people to care about politics. A lot of school-related issues should be talked about more and violence… Violence is the reason why it’s not safe to talk about politics with people sometimes. Immigration should be a major focus on politics.”