Election Results (from the pivotal under-18 upper middle class demographic)

Today I held an election in my Freshman and Junior English classes. Last week the students in one of my Frosh classes came in and wanted to have a debate on the various Props (2, 4, and 8 primarily). The debates were lively and most of the positions were predictable. Today I had the students vote on Props 4 and 8 and the president. Though there were some staunch conservatives, the results definitely leaned left. Enjoy.

Juniors (ages 16-17) - 28 total (6 didn't vote-they must not have registered!)

Obama - 17 votes
McCain - 3 votes
Ron Paul - 1 vote
Mr. Bowen - 1 vote (no joke)

Prop 4 - In short, requires minors to get parental (or another family member in cases of abuse) consent prior to having an abortion.

Yes - 11
No - 11

Prop 8 - In short, would ban gay marriage.

Yes - 8
No - 14

Freshman Class A (ages 14-15) - 18 total (2 forgot to vote for president which doesn't bode well for the future of America)

Obama - 11 votes
McCain - 5 votes

Prop 4

Yes - 6
No - 11

Prop 8

Yes - 7
No - 11

Freshman Class B (ages 14-15) - 16 total

Obama - 11 votes
McCain - 3 votes
Nader - 2 votes

Prop 4

Yes - 5
No - 11

Prop 8

Yes - 6
No - 10


Overall, the results were pretty predictable. It was interesting that the older students voted evenly on the abortion consent vote. The younger students felt that it was an invasion of privacy while the juniors were able to see both sides of the issue. I am enjoying my classes. It is fun to dialog with the students about real-life issues and indoctrinate them with my opinions and beliefs. Just kidding. Seriously though it is great to be able to debate and discuss things with the students. Last week I had them write about an intangible weight that they carry with them and it was pretty heartbreaking to read about some of the crap that these kids are going through. It definitely gave me more empathy for them. I'll post some of their writing sometime.

I hope that you enjoy these real-time election results. Beat that CNN!

By the way...I'm watching CNN right now and the 3-D hologram correspondent thing is absolutely ridiculous. However, I think it would be fun to be a 3-D hologram.