• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

SLA Media

SLAMedia is a publication of the news for the Science Leadership Academy community. Writers come from the student body in 10th, 11th, and 12th grades. We work in unison to create a functioning paper with biweekly postings on a variety of events.

  • News
  • Features
  • Sports
  • A&E
  • Op/Ed
  • Multimedia
  • About

Editorial: First Time Voters Guide

March 31, 2016 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Majority of SLA’s seniors are turning eighteen–which means they’ll be focused on the real world, i.e bills, college tuition, jobs, and voting. There is a false impression that if you don’t vote, it doesn’t affect the election anyway–wrong! Every single vote matters. We play an important role in who our next president will be–every last one of us. So, you’re on board with voting, but what are the first steps? Along with taxes, how loans work–it isn’t taught in high school. But, we will teach you about voting.

 

Research, Research, Research!

 

Don’t jump on the bandwagon when it comes to picking who you want to be president. You could possibly be rooting for someone who doesn’t hold the same (or most) values as you. So, do your own research. Check their political policies, neutral fact websites which give breakdowns of how the candidates approach certain issues. Ignore their gender, race, and political party stance because you could possibly subconsciously not want someone in office because of their identity.   This link is a great resource to start with when trying to find the right candidate to vote for: https://www.isidewith.com/elections/2016-presidential-quiz.

 

Voting for the Specific Candidate for the Right Reasons?

 

It’s a groundbreaking moment when the archetype of a president is broken. Most of us would like to see a woman in office. But, maybe Hillary isn’t our first pick. Bernie Sanders would be the first Jewish president. Donald Trump would be the first non-politician to be president. Ted Cruz would be the first Cuban president. No matter which way this election goes, they would all be the “first” in the lines of presidents before. But, we shouldn’t let that get the best of us. Choosing a president just because of certain aspect of their identity (besides their political stance) could be dangerous. For instance, James Buchanan was America’s first (alleged) gay president, yet he led America into the civil war. You also shouldn’t ignore smaller elections such as senators and congress. Having a president with good intentions and ideas is counter productive if the senate and congress blocks their policies.

 

Can They Accomplish Their Promises?

 

When running for presidency, every candidate has something they want to change about America. Whether it’s free college for everyone or a wall bordering Mexico, voters expect the candidates to keep their word. You have to ask yourself if the candidate’s promises are practical. For instance, Bernie Sanders wants to take down Wall Street and make sure every college kid is tuition-free. He has good intentions and it would be great if all of his endeavors were to happen, but we have to seriously ask what we think he could accomplish. For example, President Obama promised he would end war in Afghanistan in 2014, but it still hasn’t happened.  

 

Now It’s Time to Vote!
Spread the word! Tell your friends and family to vote. Check when your state’s primaries happen. Find a location where you can vote. Make sure you have fully registered and have your card. And check out Anna Sugure’s Facebook group- Students Vote Philly – which further goes into this.

Filed Under: Op/Ed

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

* Copy This Password *

* Type Or Paste Password Here *

95,134 Spam Comments Blocked so far by Spam Free Wordpress

Primary Sidebar

FacebookInstagramTwitter Snapchat

Features

Wardrobe of SLA

By Harper Leary Staff Writer Philadelphia is a diverse city, and the student population of Science Leadership Academy reflects that fact— not just with their identities, but also with their fashion choices. If you walk down the hallways of SLA, your head will turn every which way to get a glimpse of all the different […]

How the Pandemic has Changed Live Events

By Maya Smelser & Anouk Ghosh-Poulshock Staff Writers Everyone remembers their first concert. But when the pandemic hit, many tours were canceled or rescheduled. There was a hiatus from live music as people adjusted to their new lives– so many teens missed out on their early concert experiences..  In the past few months, however, concerts […]

How Are SLA Students Are Dealing With Their Last Quarter?

Leticia Desouza Staff Writer After a long yet quick year at SLA, students from different grades have experienced many new things they weren’t able to experience during the 2020-2021 online academic year. After almost 10 months of being back in school, students have encountered difficulties and new experiences that further molded how the rest of […]

Philadelphia High Schools Now Starting At 9am

Lia Dunakin Staff Writer The School District of Philadelphia recently announced that all Philly high schools will start their instructional day at 9AM beginning in the 2022-2023 school year.  The reason given for this huge change is simply, sleep. Teenagers tend to get tired later  at night, and starting school at early hours can be […]

Shared Facilities: SLA, and Benjamin Franklin High School Encounters

Andre Doyle, Cameron Booker, & Leticia Desouza Staff Writers SLA and Ben Franklin began their co-location in the Fall of 2019 — but only this year have the two schools started to truly operate in the same space.  Not all of the facilities are used by both schools — most academic spaces are entirely separate. […]

Copyright © 2022 · Metro Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in