On September 24th, 2019, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced a formal impeachment inquiry on President Donald Trump. By November 13th, the first public hearing took place. During mid to end of December, the House of Democratic leaders announced that they would charge Trump with two articles of impeachment including abuse of power and obstruction of justice, which resulted in impeachment. On January 16th, the Senate impeachment trial officially began, each member of the chamber stepped forward to sign the oath book on the Senate floor. On February 5th, the Senate voted to acquit Trump. 

So, everybody knows that Nancy said that Donald said that Chuck said that Adam said that Donald said again. Let’s get down to what matters: students, maybe even the world is watching the time tick by as red and blue’s stomp their feet, creating so much vibration that no one can hear. 

Students are finding it more and more difficult to spot the difference between the drama within their school halls and the drama in the white house walls. The continuous sophomoric direct and indirect actions of political leaders have become the epitome of the latest version of “I know you are but what am I?” Recently, students within North Clackamas School District have drawn weary with the constant bickering that takes place at the recent impeachment hearings. A widespread number of students were asked a set of questions that have emerged throughout this and last year. 

 Molly Branstetter, a senior at Rex Putnam High School, was asked to give her opinion on whether or not the government is maturely handling politics. Branstetter states, “I think that there is so much chaos coming from every corner. For example, I can’t even keep track of what is going on and it’s frustrating because it’s all become fuzzy because everything has erupted into complete mayhem.” Branstetter was then asked who she believes is at fault for the state the government is currently in. She states, “It’s really hard to say at this point. For all of this time I have heavily blamed Trump, but now I believe that it is much bigger than him. I think that the government has swung so far left and right that they are fighting so hard to have the last word. Yes, Trump is indeed at fault for many things, but I think that there is a bigger picture that society is continuously overlooking.” 

Paige Vancil, a senior at Clackamas High School was asked the same set of questions regarding her views of the state of the government. Vancil was asked about who she believes is to blame. She states, “I feel like left and right is getting so separated now especially with certain issues like gun control or abortions. Now it’s going to be hard because teenagers have a lot of differentiating views and it may be hard to politically choose an actual side. With the house of representatives and the senate being split, no legislation is being passed through. They have no new information to go off of because nothing is getting passed.” Vancil expresses how teenagers struggle with what to believe because they are hardly ever updated. “I feel like teenagers are so uninformed about politics. It is assumed that if someone is far left, they tend to hate a far-right person and vice versa. People need to understand that some lean towards the middle”, Vancil continues. Paige Vancil, along with others agree that the level of disagreement within the government has made a significant impact on high school students’ opinions. 

Kate Barrett, a freshman at Rex Putnam was open to giving her opinion on the matter. When asked what state she believes the government is in at the moment, she replies, “Unstable because I feel like there are just too many different opinions. I think that Trump is always focusing on the headlines and not what is actually good for our country.” Barrett explains how it can be difficult for her to be interested in the subject when she feels that those who hold power are using for the wrong reasons. When asked what her thoughts were on whether or not the government was acting mature when it comes to politics, she responded, “I feel like both sides want to be right. They are mostly focusing on getting their way but in reality, they are just messing up their reputation.” Barrett emphasizes how society must come to terms with the fact that people may not agree in the end.   

Students have expressed that the chaos within the white house has skyrocketed. Some are even wondering if the leaders of their country have taken a one-way ticket back to grade school. As the government has shown, sticks and stones haven’t broken any politician’s bones but words…