Children start off with clean, bare hands. As they fingerpaint, they are absorbing new colors, creating a blend that is unique to them. Each person they touch–parents, teachers, friends–leave different colors and shades on their fingertips. Over time, these colors and experiences blend and layer to create a unique pattern that will shape how they paint their own canvases. This is political socialization: the process through which individuals acquire their political beliefs, values and behaviors.

“Kids start to really develop or start to have a sense of political awareness in middle school, and then through the idea of discussing it with their friends or discussing it with their parents or social media,” said AP Government and Politics teacher Ms. Mason. “They’re able to start to congeal their own ideas, but it’s very malleable at this stage of the game, and even in high school.” 

In the 256 students that filled out Eastside’s survey, 57.8% identified as Democrat, 10.9% as Republican, 14.1% as Independent and 17.2% unsure of their political party identification. The different people, experiences and environments that surround these students in one way or another helped to shape the way they identify today.

Historically, family influence continuously remains the leading factor in political socialization given parental influence from a young age. As we enter a digital age, however, the media has begun to arise as a strong factor in shaping political beliefs. In the Eastside data, 79.3% of East students reported getting most of their political information off social media, followed by parents and family with 76.6% of respondents. When it comes to shaping students’ political opinions, 69.1% of students said news and media hold the most influence followed by 64.5% of parents and family. 

The rise in media has simultaneously increased student political participation while also creating emerging patterns of polarization. 

“The information that you’re getting is very purposive, and your feed is giving you back what you are hitting or what you’re getting a like on. So if you have a more conservative ideology, you’re just going to get that reinforcement and if you’re more liberal, you’re going to get that reinforcement as well,” said Mason. “Therefore it doesn’t really allow for a compromise or a moderate decision, because then you just go down this rabbit hole with technology that only then reinforces your own belief.” 

Mason expresses how this political polarization contradicts the values the United States was founded upon. 

 “It makes me sad, that goes against the core of our ideas. The basic heart of our Constitution is your first amendment right, and that first amendment right is the ability to speak your mind and to hear what someone else is saying, to listen to compromise. Our systems designed to have compromises. It’s not meant to be one way and then zero gain on the other.

While Mason believes there needs to be more of a middle ground for people to level politically with each other, she encourages participation in voting and expressing strong political opinions. 

70.3% of students considered themselves “politically engaged.” Eastside has analyzed some of these student responses to better understand what has influenced East students’ political socialization and how they are living out these ideals currently.

Politics can be viewed as a difficult world to navigate. In almost every election or campaign, promises are made, opinions become split and tensions heighten. However, the nature of politics does not just polarize political parties; it also creates a new division between those that are passionate and those that are not.

Out of 256 students surveyed, the majority of respondents considered themselves to be politically engaged, with 25.3% selecting that they are “very engaged” and 45.1% deeming themselves “somewhat engaged.” Compared to the 8.3% that stated that they were not engaged in politics whatsoever, it becomes clear that, for the most part, the East population cares about how their government is run and by whom.

Zara Mathew (‘29) said, “It takes an actual politically engaged person to go out there on the street and like hold a protest or… have an actual… live conversation with people to get other people to listen to your side.”

East students as a whole tended to be passionate in a few key areas. The most highly selected political issue was that of abortion/reproductive rights, with 59.3% of respondents deeming this one of the top three areas that mattered to them.

“A woman’s body is her own body,” Mathew said. “She should have the right to, you know, do whatever she wants with her body.”

Gun rights and/or control, immigration and racial justice/equality were also among the most pressing issues for East students. When contemplating or acting upon these issues, students must look to political campaigns that appeal to their interests, background and views.

45.8% of respondents claimed that debates intrigued them the most when it came to methods of outreach and campaigning on the parts of candidates. Speeches and policy plans were the second most popular option, with 25.7% of students selecting it.

Aryaman Sakar (‘27) was among those that felt an inclination toward specific plans.

“I want to see like a politician’s actual goals,” Sakar said. “It’s easy for people to just get up on a stage and make a grand stand about whatever they want to do… but… I want to see… an actually realistic achievable plan.”

While the majority of students felt politically engaged on various levels, some lacked passion for the entire field. The main reason for such apathy was lack of knowledge and education surrounding the government, as 35.5% of respondents noted that politics “feels too confusing.”

In addition, others noted their distrust of political figures, with one anonymous student going so far to say, “It’s too stupid for me to care about and there’s too much BS going on and nobody is trustworthy.”

One respondent also noted that they felt that neither political party was adequate. Having two completely separate political parties in this age has led to a split in views, with either side taking a distinct opinion on such matters.

Sakar, who identifies as an independent, also feels this way.

“It’s kind of just a switch back and forth between either party for [me.] Nothing’s really been done because every time a new party gets into the office, it always reverses the policies of the last party,” Sakar said. For him, an ideal world wouldn’t require one to choose between two opposing parties.

Josh Resnick (’26)

The first time I remember thinking about politics was during the 2016 Presidential election between Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton. My family was very into this and every family dinner or holiday get-together turned into some form of a debate. At this point, almost everyone in my family was left leaning, except for my one uncle who has always been more conservative. At the time, I only knew what I was told—in relation to politics—and supported Clinton. I remember being shocked when Trump won. He was an outsider and he beat a qualified candidate. Even today, I think Clinton could have been a better president, but that is beside the point.

Over Trump’s first term, I only heard about the bad that happened. People focused on his controversies. Then January 6th happened, and I was like wow this guy is kinda crazy. At this point, I was firmly placed in the Democratic Party.

As I grew up and began researching more policies of Biden and the Democratic Party, my views started to shift. Over Biden’s term, the economy constantly declined and the stock market was not doing much better. Then, when the Russia-Ukraine and later the Israel-Gaza conflicts started to get worse under Biden, I began questioning the Democratic Party’s ability to govern both domestically and internationally. 

Furthermore, it seemed as though many Democratic leaders and politicians stopped using reason and fact to justify their positions, rather they used emotion and deceit. I would never preach that the Republican Party is perfect, but within the Republican Party there are many more peaceful disagreements. 

As I continued through high school and learned more, my allegiance slowly shifted to firmly to the right side of politics. Then, at the start of this year, Charlie Kirk was murdered. Now, while this did not change any of my views, it was more the response of the Democratic Party as a whole which shocked me.

Specifically, people on the left were using this death as a tool, an insult and for conspiracy theories. Not everyone, but enough for me to take a step back and analyze why people thought what they did. 

Policy-wise, I believe immigration laws should be strict, with few exceptions. Illegal immigrants shouldn’t have access to government-funded benefits, but the legal immigration process should be made faster and more efficient. Economically, I lean toward limited isolationism—supporting tariffs that keep jobs and production in the U.S. while maintaining fair trade. I also think less government regulation encourages innovation and competition.

I believe that programs like Medicare should support those truly in need, and help for homelessness should depend on the cause, not just provide free handouts. On social issues, I value meritocracy over quotas; diversity is important, but not at the expense of standards.

On abortion, I support restrictions after a heartbeat is detected, with exceptions for rape or the mother’s life. I believe everyone deserves respect regardless of identity, but medical transitions for minors should be illegal. And on guns, if you’re old enough to serve in the military, you’re old enough to own one—with proper background, mental health checks, and waiting periods.

Generally, I don’t really think that any of my views are too extreme. 

Max Gutshall (’27)

I have had a baseline understanding of politics for about as long as I can remember. During the 2016 presidential campaign, as I entered second grade, I knew that the election was between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Though I didn’t have a real understanding of the issues at hand, my family did, and they were not fans of Trump or his agenda. Even at that age, I had a basic understanding that what Trump and his campaign stood for was against my family’s values. 

However, my political awareness matured the most as the COVID pandemic took hold of the nation. Members of my family had trained with Dr. Fauci at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and they found the extent to which the Trump administration and his allies in Congress undermined Fauci’s guidance insulting to the wider medical community. My awareness deepened in the wake of George Floyd’s murder in June of that same year, as my family attended protests and showed solidarity with the Black community, furthering my ideological stance on equality.

The 2020 election was the first one I really paid any attention to. COVID conspiracy theories about the disease itself and its vaccine were important issues, but racial issues and how to approach police reform  divided the country. However, in my mind the battle leading up to the election is overshadowed by Trump’s refusal to accept defeat, culminating into the January 6th attack on the Capitol by Trump’s supporters who sought to overturn the election by force. I see that now as a defining moment for my political beliefs. The peaceful transition of power is seldom a disputed procedure—the voters have already made their opinions known. Trump attempted to go against the voters, who, ironically enough, had told him “You’re fired.” 

In the following years, my political beliefs have matured and seem to be more aligned with the Democratic Party every day. I believe in loving thy neighbor, and I struggle to find that ideal in the Republican Party’s policies that go against immigrants, trans people, Muslims, and just about any other minority you can name. Republicans are normally good for the economy as far as numbers are concerned—Trump is an outlier—but people come first. The Republicans’ lack of empathy and inclusion has continually driven me further toward the Democratic Party.