Teenagers are apathetic. Most rarely get excited, especially over boring historical things. But I must say the energy at the high school today was palpable. They talked all day about the elections, who might win, what the Electoral College was, how long their parents had to wait in line,who had the better campaign, and on and on. It was uplifting to see that level of excitement among 15-18 year olds, 98% of who couldn't even vote! And it was both Republicans and Democrats! I hope they keep that level of excitement as they grow old enough to vote.
I reminded them that tomorrow needed to be a pleasant day, regardless of who won. I didn't want any name-calling, or rude statements. We'll see what the day brings...
On a less postive note, we were talking with Macy about the elections at dinner. They'd had an election in the classroom yesterday. She told us that a girl in her class, Ali, said that Obama was a bad man because he was black. What bothers me the most about that statement is this little girl is 6. She has obviously heard someone say that, and now her entire frame of reference has been skewed regarding race. She will grow up thinking anyone not white is bad. Amazing that as far as our country has come, there are still people basing decisions on the color of one's skin. Regardless of the outcome of the election, people voted based on the color of skin and that is not the way it should be.
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