Election Day: Remember to vote, and remember that all candidates are winners

Today is the day of the CFHS student senate elections. We have some very qualified candidates who have already done so much for the school and will continue to do so next year in whatever position they hold. Although school elections may not seem important, they do have an enormous impact on the school, and everyone deserves to attend a school where they feel their voices will be heard. We at the Tiger Hi-Line strongly encourage you to vote — get a taste of the process and experience participating in your school and community. Voting, whether for the school or the nation, will benefit you in ways you may not be able to see yet.

However, a word of warning: keep things in perspective, and do not let the excitement of campaigns take away your sense of right and wrong. School elections are incredibly important, but remember that it’s the chance for young people to hone their leadership skills and to participate in their community that’s important — not who wins and who loses. In the past few days, we have heard too many hurtful comments and even seen friends divided over their candidate choices.

First things first: it absolutely does not matter who you vote for, as long as you chose that candidate for the right reasons. Choose the candidate you believe will best represent our school and yourself. It doesn’t matter how popular they are or who your friends are voting for. If you vote based on what other people want and how people will perceive you, you’re taking away the entire point the elections. If you vote to maintain some pointless construct of popularity, the student senate elections might as well be called high school popularity contest. This is supposed to be democracy, not a Miss America pageant.

The second thing: free speech does not give you any right to harass others to conform to your opinion or to speak badly about the candidates you are not voting for. Your opinions do not allow you to disrespect the dignity of your fellow human beings. All of the candidates have worked extremely hard for what they believe, and we daresay they’ve done much more than a lot of the students in this school. They deserve nothing else but the utmost respect, no matter if you disagree with their platform or their methods. You owe it to them, you owe it to you school and you owe it to yourself. Remember, you’re lucky to be able to vote at all. Don’t waste that privilege with ignorance or pettiness.

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