Special Reports

Opinion: Gen Z, millenials look for better president, better future by votes

By Nathalie Miranda

With the presidential election around the corner, many teens and frst-time voters are expected to play a signifcant role in determining the future of this country.

Generation Z (Gen Z), the only generation that has grown up in a fairly modern world, has gained a lot of attention numerous times for showing they are incredibly progressive and will not stay quiet about the issues this country faces. Gen Z is known for their courage to speak for social movements like racial justice, climate change and human rights. Also, there will be many more youth voters this year than there were in 2016. There will be about 23 million eligible Gen Z voters and about 63% of them will be voting, compared to only 47% in 2016. Studies from 2018 done by Pew Research Center showed only about 30 percent of Gen Z actually approved of how President Trump has led this country. The remaining percent want a government that will try to solve human rights injustices, rather than one that fuels large corporations. The youth vote is so important because young adults recognize the damage Trump

Photo by Cassia Ramelb Black Student Union President Cassia Ramelb encourages students to vote and pre-register. Te presidential elections is less than a month away and it is important to vote who will lead the fate of the country. has inficted on the majority and they’re younger generations, regardless of being not afraid to fght back. It has become raised under traditional morals, managed evermore apparent youth voters have to break out of those standards. very progressive beliefs rather than tradi- As time passes and the more this tional beliefs. country advances, progress and open-

“While being a part of the younger minds are what we need. Youth voters generation, it is so important we show up understand the need for a president who to the polls, message politicians and demand change,” “ Most of the youth are involved in makes eforts to beneft the entire country. The future of the United States is quite poll worker, political rally politics and are literally depending on the younger captain and senior Cassia Ramelb said. “Most of the youth are involved in politics and are driven to have a say. What is happengenerations. For those who are of age, show up to the polls and vote, for the sake of the country and everyone living in it. driven to have a say. Cassia Ramelb ” ing in politics today is the world we will grow in and we need our voices to echo.”

Even as this country emerges into a more connected society, it still seems to want to preserve the beliefs from hun- Instagram: @nathalie61313 dreds of years ago. This being said, the Illustration by Shannon Sullivan 7Special Reports | October 2020

BLACK LiVES’ MENTAL

Exposure to trauma porn made more accesible by

By Gabrielle Lashley

Seeing things such as traumatic events online or the police killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery can, in several ways, heavily contribute to the poor mental health of young people of color.

In a study released in 2019 by the Ofcial Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, suicide attempts among Black youth have risen 73% between 1991 and 2017. Suicide is now the second leading cause of death among 10 to 19-year-old Black youth, while suicide rates of white adolescents have lowered. In an efort to stop this from continuing, the causes must be looked at.

According to a 2015 study released by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 9.1% of African-American adolescents reported a serious depressive episode within the past year while only 40.6% of them received treatment. The reasons for this are: either their parents didn’t want to get them help or their local healthcare facilities just didn’t care enough about helping them. There are so many walls Black people have to go through just to get the proper help that they, and every other human being, have a right to. It’s about time people become more open-minded about mental health and getting help for it, just as it is time for the structural racism in the American medical feld to stop.

There are three big things that contribute to the poor mental health of these people: police brutality of Black people seen online, overt discrimination and treatment issues for mental health. The fact that traumatic online events and police killings of Black people contribute to kid’s poor mental health isn’t surprising, but it is somewhat new. As recently as the early 2000s, it wasn’t possible to capture a video of something like police brutality and put it on the internet for everyone to see.

Cartoon by Gabrielle Lashley Black youth are routinely exposed to harmful and graphic media portraying violence against the Black community. his has an undeniable toll on their mental and emotional health.

You either saw the event yourself, heard what happened from somebody who saw it, or you learned about it from the news. Now anyone can see these disturbing events, including Black youth.