As I conclude this series of blogs regarding education as a civic issue, I hope I have been able to highlight facets of the public education system in the United States. I had intended to research and portray issues with the direction of the system currently and how we value it in our community. It was my hope to highlight these underlying issues of the role of the education system from assessing students to valuing our teachers, so that we can learn from where we are struggling. I wanted to challenge the current style with which our students are learning and being taught so that moving forward, we can begin to help them get a better education and become better leaders. With that, I wanted to focus on the culmination of stress and pressure across the whole educational body. Students and teachers bear the greatest levels of stress and pressure in school environments, and it is a growing problem.

Students across the nation are experiencing greater levels of pressure and stress to ensure that their academic performance is the best. A little bit of stress can be a good thing. This is the level of stress where students are feeling tingly in their stomachs which can then be focused into increased energy that can then help students on tests or presentations. However, the experience of stress described by students nowadays is not the same. We all will feel pressure in our daily lives, but there is a different kind of issue brewing with this. A Pew survey found that 70% of teens categorize anxiety and stress as a “major problem” among their peers (Flannery). There is also research showcasing that academic pressures are at the top of concerns for students with 61% reporting they face the greatest stress to achieve good grades (Flannery). These could be tossed up to several academic factors such as growing up in the increased age of standardization and monotonous homework, but it can also be attributed to issues of technology and social media. Both nonetheless, play a great role and prove inhibitory to student’s successes.

Growing up in the age of the No Child Left Behind and Every Student Succeeds Act, this generation of students has constantly combatted standardized tests at all grade levels. Repetition of this has instilled a great ideology of standardization and rising to the top. This has further placed pressure on students to ensure that they are rising to the top. As they moved to high school, they were introduced to AP level classes that continued this tradition of rising to the top and challenging oneself. Fundamentally they do challenge students. Yet, there is a misconception that students have to take the classes, and they must always receive an A in them as well (Walker). Instead of creating an environment where education was valued, it shifted to a competitive mindset of who can acquire all of the knowledge of the test. As students wanted to excel, so did the teachers. Teachers wanted to ensure that their students were performing with their best potential especially since those scores would be used as a reflection on the teacher. This created a cycle of stress revolving from teacher to student. This then further detracts from the role of education and shifts the meaning to testing. Even with great performances on the tests, students still suffer through great stress. Students that have been performing well and attending high achieving schools have been added to the “at-risk” category in regards to elevated chronic stress levels and general health and well-being concerns (Wallace).

As I mentioned earlier, we are also the generation that have grown with great exposure to social media and technology. Of course we all know of studies of stress and anxiety from these tools. The general concern from this source of stress is that it translates into the educational environment which then inhibits appropriate performance academically. Students may get distracted on the devices and stress accumulates from the lack of work being done. Furthermore, students get distracted by unrealistic expectations that they feel they must perform such as acceptances into prestigious colleges (Wallace). This places elevated pressure on students to keep performing until they get there, and if they don’t, then it won’t be significant. These mindsets are detrimental to the well-being of students, and it must be changed. The initial goal in educating our students are to allow them to become passionate that they want to learn for the sake of interest and curiosity. However, these principles are being challenged as we produce stressful environments through comparison, competition, and standardization. We must call out this issue and address it. It will be challenging, but it will provide a better educational environment and future for students.

Works Cited:

Flannery, Mary Ellen. “The Epidemic of Anxiety Among Today’s Students.” NEA Today, 18 June 2019, neatoday.org/2018/03/28/the-epidemic-of-student-anxiety/.

Walker, Tim. “Schools Look to Parents and Communities To Help Reduce Student Stress.” NEA Today, 5 Apr. 2018, neatoday.org/2016/09/16/reducing-student-stress/.

Wallace, Jennifer Breheny. “Perspective | Students in High-Achieving Schools Are Now Named an ‘at-Risk’ Group, Study Says.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 26 Sept. 2019, www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2019/09/26/students-high-achieving-schools-are-now-named-an-at-risk-group/.

After understanding that students across the nation are not performing as well as students in other countries, people look for a source to blame. They want to know what is causing this and why their students are not the best. Often this blame lands on the desks of teachers. It is the public school teachers that are mainly criticized for low test scores or low academic performance beyond scores. The teachers routinely carry the weight of these accusations and criticisms when they walk into their schools, and it creates an unjust educational system for students to enroll in. There is an issue of the lack of respect teachers receive from communities, and it further stems into the argument of low pay for teachers in the public school system. Teachers are routinely dissatisfied with the problems they face such as salary cuts, lack of resources, and neglect from leaders (Lynch). If teachers continually express these concerns, but no step is taken to resolve it, then the future of students and education is at stake.

As a country, we claim to value education. However, it is not valued as heavily as it should be if we wish to see significant improvements. Focusing on education and the root of its problems such as low respect for teachers would allow us to improve in other categories of issues as well such as presenting a strong economy. Nonetheless, we are still realistically undermining the education system and as a result, we undermine the teachers involved. Teacher salaries have dropped 4.5 percent over the past decade, and they are paid 21.4 percent less than what others receive in fields with similar educational requirements (Robbins). These teachers are preparing the next generation and creating a difference for the future, yet this great role is insufficiently rewarded through pay, attention, or resources. Recent decisions of school closings due to the coronavirus pandemic have affected teachers in different ways, but it has further stressed the lack of attention granted to teachers and their importance. School districts have been claimed to be hesitant on closing their schools because of concerns that parents wouldn’t be able to work efficiently (Robbins). Still, this brings light to the idea that schools are not to serve as drop-off/day care centers and teachers are not to be considered babysitters. This example presents just one way in which the prominence of our teachers are undercut.

Teachers are growing concerned about this treatment. As many as 61 percent of high school teachers considered quitting the profession due to long hours and low pay (Robbins). There is already a shortage of teachers and proper educational resources, so if this continues as teachers quit, we will find ourselves questioning whether we can effectively fix the educational system we have. A fix could come from the increase in respect towards teachers. The 2018 Global Teacher Status Index evaluated this relationship of respect and performance. They were able to find that countries with greater teacher respect had higher scores of student achievement per the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) (Walker). Countries with high scores in both categories included China and Malaysia, whereas the United States ranked 16th with a score of 39 in terms of teacher value. Other countries also express great respect to the profession through the competitive selection of the teachers and offering of standards that are equivalent to those of doctors and lawyers in the US (Lynch). As we see this rise in scores from greater appreciation of teachers, we can also see greater economic growth in the US. Increasing scores in a competitive global climate could result in a gain of trillions of dollars in the American economy, but once again we must stress where this would stem from; respect towards our teachers.

We can be hopeful that this will come to fruition. Yet, we must understand that until we appropriately support and appreciate the profession, improvements will not occur. Teachers will continue to do their work to the best of their ability, but it is still a community effort of support that ensures both teachers and students achieve the best at their greatest potential. It is a cooperative effort to ensure that their are enough resources, compensation, and acknowledgement. This will overall create a far better educational environment currently and in the future as well. After all, that is what we think of when we think of education. We want to make sure our students can perform the best for the future, so we must help the teachers in the same manner.

Works Cited:

Lynch, Matthew. “Respect for Teaching: Why Is Education So Low on the Priority List?” The Edvocate, 2 May 2016, www.theedadvocate.org/respect-for-teaching-why-is-education-so-low-on-the-priority-list/.

Robbins, Alexandra. “Teachers Deserve More Respect.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 20 Mar. 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/03/20/opinion/sunday/teachers-coronavirus.html.

Walker, Tim. “Where Do Teachers Get the Most Respect?” NEA Today, National Education Association, 6 Dec. 2018, neatoday.org/2018/11/28/where-do-teachers-get-the-most-respect/.

We go from class to class, switching our minds from one set of subjects to another. It is a routine task we do everyday. We absorb content from one subject and then move to the next class to absorb the content from that class. It seems like a monotonous and continual absorption of solely educational content is occurring in classroom walls. What about the skills that employers and workplace industries are looking for? Employers are looking for candidates that possess critical skills and talents that go beyond the classroom, yet we are still sitting at the same desks taking in information.

Stemming from my post regarding standardized testing, I had discussed the notion of “teaching to the test”. This ideology present heavily in the K-12 public school system emphasizes the education of content on state level standardized tests. The system has “educations who are still focused on content” (Adams). The curriculum in schools revolves around reading, math, and science, which are the subjects routinely tested in students. Extensive time is granted to focus on these classes, and students are fed this information every day. Continuation of this pattern leads to students falling behind in other important skill levels. These skills are the ones that are necessary “to meet the demands of a 21st century economy” (Williams). Different employers and career agencies will highlight different skills that employers look for, but several similarities occur across the parties. Many have made mention of leadership, curiosity, collaboration, integrity, communication, and more. Each one plays with one another to form a complete and skilled person, and an embodiment of these skills is what employers look for. Beyond the intellect of students, they look to see that they will add to the team. However, since students are brought up on specific subjects drilled into their minds, they are already behind. There is a disconnect between the education system and what is required in the world. Companies struggle to find properly skilled talent leading to 49% of companies reporting unfilled job openings and 37% unable to take on new projects (Francis).

Some countries address this in their respective ways by focusing on general character development while schooling students. They start early in elementary school levels and teach life qualities such as generosity, empathy, and self-control among others (Newman). Starting this implementation earlier allows for students to refer back to this learning as they continue with the hearty educational content. The skills carry throughout the rest of their education careers and are further tuned as they implement it with others at higher levels of education. US public education has left this out of the curriculum and students don’t have the same preparation.

Furthermore, there can be programs implemented beyond the curriculum or in tandem with each other. One popular answer among education leaders revolves around work-based learning (Francis). Students should be able to become involved with companies first hand through internships to gain experience of the skills the same employers are looking for at the time of employment. This can begin early in high school years, and then later in the college years it can be better implemented and fine tuned. At the high school level, there are a few examples of summer programs that allow students to be paired with career representatives. These representatives aid in enforcing the key workplace skills through practices and activities that best resemble real life programs. From there, the students are exposed to the true workplace and spend time shadowing, asking questions, and sometimes working. Continual involvement in this type of work allows for the skills to be built upon and at the college level, it can be implemented again in numerous other manners. Offering these programs at colleges and universities across the nation would further allow students to become stronger in the soft skills required. Within the classrooms, there can be increased efforts for project based learning to occur. These projects should aim to focus on real world problems and should be stretched over a long period of time. From this, we can focus on problem-solving skills and applying knowledge to action. This would also help directly with skills such as curiosity, collaboration, dedication, and leadership (Adams).

There are improvements to be made to fix the disconnect that is present between what is taught in the classroom and what employers seek in terms of skills. There are solutions and alternatives to what is already in place, but we must take these steps to see the improvements. We cannot sit idly by and enforce the same policies.

Works Cited:

Adams, Caralee. “Addressing Disconnect Between Student Skills and Employer Needs.” Education Week – College Bound, 12 Mar. 2015, blogs.edweek.org/edweek/college_bound/2015/03/addressing_mismatch_between_job_needs_and_education_system.html.

Francis, Jaimie, and Zac Auter. “3 Ways to Realign Higher Education With Today’s Workforce.” Gallup.com, Gallup, 9 Feb. 2020, www.gallup.com/education/231740/ways-realign-higher-education-today-workforce.aspx.

Newman, Nicole. “Education: Effective Ways to Decrease the Disconnect between Education and Employment.” LinkedIn, 18 June 2017, www.linkedin.com/pulse/education-effective-ways-decrease-disconnect-between-nicole-newman.

Williams, Courtney. “The Disconnect Between Education and Entrepreneurship.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 16 Aug. 2017, www.forbes.com/sites/courtneywilliams/2017/08/15/the-disconnect-between-education-and-entrepreneurship/#557aec3c5c07.

There is no doubt that technology is growing in our community everyday. In the past 30 years, there has been such an exponential increase in the availability of products that it’s hard to imagine a world where none of these tools existed. Us students, we grew up constantly surrounded by some form of a device in any environment we stepped into. We never seemed to escape it, and it didn’t seem like we would want to escape it either. It plays a pivotal role in our lives; we live in the age of information with everything available after hitting one button.

Since there is so much available so readily, how has this transformed our schools? There have been multiple initiatives across the nation that have been heavily emphasizing a technological schooling system. Some schools are completing transitions into fully online teachings. Spending on education technology has exceeded $13 billion, and this sounds like great, exciting progress in delivering the best education to our students (MIT News). However, there are still ideologies and questions of access, usage, and reality that are still unanswered as we continue to push technology programs into schools. There are numerous studies that evaluate the strategies by which schools are addressing this issue. Many of these studies weigh the countless ways technology can be introduced, and it seems to come to the middle ground for majority of the initiatives. These proper initiatives must be introduced to schools all over the country in order to ensure that everybody is getting the best education possible.

The simple inclusion of computers and tablets in schools has not shown any improvement on academic achievement, but it has increased the level of proficiency that students understand computer usage (MIT News). Again, there is a drawback with usage and accessibility. Where is the limit to which people use the computers in school? Continual usage of technology has shown addictive qualities occur in people. Furthermore, if people cannot access the computers beyond school, they will not be able to practice their digital literacy. But, if there is controlled distribution of technological equipment, then students can take advantage and build on their digital literacy appropriately. The middle ground must be met however to ensure that people are able to use the tools properly.

In systems that are currently in place where students are able to use their technology, research has seen that independent learning and self-curiosity is growing. Students are becoming more responsible for what they are able to learn. They are able to explore their passions deeply and understand the specifics of it (Purdue). Perhaps it’s a great way of building creativity and innovation in students, but there still remains a question of accessibility. Everything can be found online, but you still must have the right resources to get there. People in favor of this increased sense of curiosity being unlocked with technology also argue it is an easy way to share our thoughts with world. There are no walls to prevent people from talking. Nonetheless, there is still a loss of human interaction with solely online sharing (Vigo). To counteract this large fear of over independence, people have suggested a blended study approach that once again combines the best of both worlds. This education style allows students to have face-to-face interaction and online learning opportunities. This creates a flexible environment in which students are able to meet when necessary and complete their work at their own times as well. It truly combines the independence and interdependence we experience outside of the school environment.

Lastly, there is a fear of increased competition and overall accessibility gap. Private sources and tutoring have been growing at exponential rates which signals greater dedication in students (Vigo). However, you must consider who the students are that have that kind of education. If students in good economic standing are able to pay their way through online resources, you would be increasing the competition across all student bodies. You would also be weeding out those with the inability to take advantage of those resources.

Overall, the issue comes down to a lack of understanding what is right for the students. Where is the appropriate level at which students can succeed with technology. It is a powerful tool that can shape and transform our education system (Purdue), but how do we manage that? Schools and administrations must be wary of the right way to address technology in the classroom. Too many schools have fallen victim to either extremely aggressive initiatives or completely passive initiatives, and it comes from the lack of education on what is right. Moving forward we must understand that technology is best used in moderation with equal access for everybody. Furthermore, it cannot be the sole option for majority of students; instead, we should still be emphasizing interactions with one another. The issue will still be debated as to what the right way is, but we must be completely educated before any grave actions are taken on our students.

Works Cited:

“How Has Technology Changed Education?” Purdue University Online, Kaplan Higher Education, online.purdue.edu/blog/how-has-technology-changed-education.

Vigo, Julian. “Education Technology And The Shift In How We Learn.” Forbes, 23 Aug. 2019, www.forbes.com/sites/julianvigo/2019/08/23/education-technology-and-the-shift-in-how-we-learn/#78e9dd502a2c.

“What 126 Studies Say about Education Technology.” MIT News, 26 Feb. 2019, news.mit.edu/2019/mit-jpal-what-126-studies-tell-us-about-education-technology-impact-0226.

Majority of students in the United States will take some form of a standardized test. Usually, we will have taken either aptitude or achievement formats of standardized tests, and on average, each student takes approximately 112 standardized tests from kindergarten to 12th grade. Students remain in testing conditions for 25 hours a year which accounts for 2.34% of the school year (Waldman). A simple, innocent look towards the standardized testing system may present an illusion of equality and fairness for all students in the public schooling system. However, true analysis of the scoring methods and scores themselves reveal a different story. A story that shows the faults in testing students repetitively over their primary educational years.

Starting in 2002, President George W. Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). A heavily bipartisanship effort led to the increase of federal involvement in educational accountability. School would be evaluated on their students performances based primarily on tests. These tests were administered at the state level, and cut-offs for proficiency would also be determined at the state level. It required all schools to record 100% proficiency, or there would be consequences, mostly financial. Due to this heavy stress of high academic performance, focus shifted to standardized testing as it became the “be-all and end all of education” (Ravitich). Yet, the sudden shift to repetitive testing resulted in no change in scores, and they occasionally decreased compared to previous years. A proposal to increase the standards of American education actually left the institution in a degraded place.

Beyond scores and performance, NCLB did not fulfill on the ideological values of true education. There is a rise in a new testing atmosphere that requires teachers to “teach to the test”. It has overtaken the education system in that the pressure of academic performance has led to significant curriculum changes. Initially, schools had to shift their ideology to tests, so art programs, extracurriculars, electives, and more would be cut from schedules (Kohn). Even after schools cut these programs in hopes of improving their scores, federal funding would be low, so the programs would often never return afterwards. NCLB paved a faulty road for our educational system, leaving it in scraps today.

The program has been updated with newer initiatives such as the Race to the Top and Every Student Succeeds Act, both under President Obama’s administration. However, with these new interventions, there were still issues of heavy testing. Beyond that, even more monetary rewards were granted for improved testing performance; whereas, that money could have been granted to the loss of programs that had been cut by many schools earlier.

The tests are also becoming heavily criticized for the reflection it creates on socioeconomic status. There is an overwhelming correlation with scores and student performances to the economic background of families and the community (Kohn). Students that come from supportive and well-off communities score better compared to those from poorer and minority communities. These links are easily explained by accessibility and resources in different areas. Places that are considered to be well-off will have greater opportunities in allowing their students to learn the proper material for the tests. Test-prep centers are growing across the nation. In fact, some schools with the appropriate resources offer it to their students themselves. Underserved communities, on the other hand, suffer from lack of proper classroom sizes, supplies, and instruction. Ironically, it is these same schools that are funded less due to their low performances on tests.

There has been increased discussion about what the possible alternatives are and what new initiatives can be passed to prevent the same mistakes from occurring again. Ideas have been floated to decrease testing times by redefining some purposes of tests. The hope is to change perspective on teaching students valuable content, instead of eliminating creativity from classrooms (Waldman). There is continued research being conducted on individualized education as well as international systems. There is still work being done.

Overall, schools are still being tested heavily across all ages. Previous initiatives with goals of elevating the American education system to higher standards have actually resulted in an opposite effect. The initiatives have increased pressure on school administrations and increased pressure on students. The true value of education has been lost at times, and we are now trying to find our way back to allow every student to succeed.

 

Works Cited:

Kohn, Alfie. “Fighting the Tests: A Practical Guide to Rescuing Our Schools.” Alfie Kohn, 11 Jan. 2015, www.alfiekohn.org/article/fighting-the-tests/.

Ravitch, Diane. “The Common Core Costs Billions and Hurts Students.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 23 July 2016, www.nytimes.com/2016/07/24/opinion/sunday/the-common-core-costs-billions-and-hurts-students.html.

Waldman, Caroline. “TESTING OVERLOAD?: New Study Finds U.S. Students Are Spending Time Taking Redundant Tests.” Alliance For Excellent Education, 10 Nov. 2015, all4ed.org/articles/testing-overload-new-study-finds-u-s-students-are-spending-time-taking-redundant-tests/.

Education. This one word is valued significantly in our society. We believe that there is great power held in this idea of education, and we work our hardest to ensure that everybody is able to achieve the level of knowledge they wish and deserve. Starting from the beginning, we attend school at young ages. Many of us attend a public school system for 13 years of our life, and at each step of our journey in the halls of these schools we are thrown a variety of subjects to learn and care about. We are exposed to so many fields, so we can possibly find one we are passionate about and study further. It seems like this education system that we have had for numerous years has been a simple, “perfect” plan that leads right to the answers of life. Is this true?

In this blog, I’d like to research the public education system we have today. In more detail, I aim to understand how the system began and what the intended goals were for students to succeed. Repeatedly students are told to follow the general plan of high school to college to be successful. Is there more to education than success and jobs? Furthermore, I can evaluate the icons of our schools; the items we place great emphasis on. From standardized testing to selective STEM classes, I can study why these are so important. Many issues arise from funding issues and lack of support which is another growing issue within education that should be addressed.

Throughout the five posts, I will research these topics and evaluate the true progression of education in the United States.

My group decided to focus on the increase in college tuition for students. More specifically, we are exploring the controversy in what people believe should be the state of tuition; should it be left alone and continue to rise, or should we begin to cut the prices for students. As far as role assignments go, we decided to divide up the research by attributing each person to a framing question. This way we would research our individual element, and bring it together into one final script. Along the way of our research, we would also try to find appropriate media to incorporate into our videos.

My research revolved around finding the root cause of the increase in tuition and what the benefits would be if we were to look into lowering tuition. As far as researching the root cause, it presents a challenge. There are many sources as to why the tuition rates are increasing which include decreasing state support, increase in spendings per student, and more. The biggest issue through statistics is the decrease in support the schools receive. 46 states have decreased the funding they have made available to colleges and universities, and on average it is a 20% decrease per student. Regarding my research on the benefits to the opposite idea, lowering tuition, we can see that it can potentially benefit many parties involved with the controversy. Students can benefit from decreasing tuition as it opens the accessibility for many colleges for them. Furthermore, colleges are able to benefit from increased application sizes as well as admitted class sizes. Providing lower and consistent tuition rates also allows for colleges to attain a higher retention rate which often helps the economy of the college too.

This research was not too difficult to explore and analyze as many scholarly business and economics articles have touched upon this controversy on their own as well.

My ideas for public controversies that can be discussed revolve around the medical field. My first, CRISPR and gene-editing technology, is more technical and can be applied to the sciences as a whole. My second idea is to focus on the controversy of universal healthcare. These are relevant controversies that arise in daily discussions as they affect everybody.

There is a heavy focus on the rise on gene-editing technology. More and more people are becoming interested in this transformative technology, and they are trying to find answers to the many questions that remain at the forefront of the scientific community. As it grows and people try to grab all the information they can, they begin to question what can happen next. This presents a controversy before us. There are technical controversies in the true efficiency of gene-editing and making sure that there are minimal unforeseen consequences. There is also an overarching controversy that affects all of society, and it deals with the genetic modification/engineering of humans.  There are questions about how much the research will impact human evolution and to what extent will society allow applications of gene-editing to reach. Scientists are still trying to figure out answers which renders this as an ongoing controversy that will be interesting to research.

My second idea focuses on healthcare coverage in the United States. There have been many calls for reform in this industry, but there isn’t any progress or agreement on how we should move forward with this topic. There are many factors that people want to consider that attribute to the controversy. There is debate on how to handle high insurance costs, the bureaucratic obstacles of the industry, and the socioeconomic issues in society. A commonly proposed idea is through universal healthcare coverage. Proponents of this would argue that this is a right that should be granted to every citizen, allowing for, supposedly, fair access to healthcare. Opponents argue that it interferes with the capitalistic ideologies we have in our economy. They argue that the governmental powers would stretch too far, and it is unnecessary for them to step in. We are still trying to find the best method to handle the situation. It is very relevant in our society, and as college students who are becoming independent of our families, we need to understand what our next step is for our healthcare.

Introduction: In my intro, I am going to attempt to include subtle moments of humor and comedy. From here, I am hoping to effectively transition into the details of my speech.

• Do you remember that time when the president only had three cabinet departments? Or maybe that time when nobody really wanted to run for president? No? Huh, I thought it just happened yesterday. I must be thinking of some other time period. Today, we see a different state of the presidency, right? It seems that we always hear of some form of coverage of what the president has done each day. No matter the platform, the presence of the president is always around. So, how did we reach this state compared to when the country was still growing and developing? There must have been some sort of shift.

Main Points: In addressing the major factors that created the shift, I will provide context in the form of a timeline. This timeline will cover the presidency from the administrations of Presidents Theodore to Franklin Roosevelt. I will address how these two Presidents shaped the presidency in their respective manners and how it has only led to expansion from that point forward. The factors I aim to cover are:

• Increased presence in global affairs
  • Panama Canal
  • True following of Monroe Doctrine
  • World Wars
• Increased immigration which led to increased domestic issues
  • Influx of immigrants in search of jobs
  • Industrialization
  • Labor management
• Aggressive policy campaigns
  • New Deal
  • “Alphabet Soup”

Conclusion: In the conclusion, I aim to sum up the factors that contributed to the shift in presidential power. I will then expand this to how it has lead us to believe that the president is becoming more important because they are more influential. To demonstrate the significance and connect it to the audience, I will relate it to voting and the focus of that for newer generations.

• This class and other newly turned 18 year olds will finally be able to practice our civic duty in voting, especially for the general election in which the president is elected. As I demonstrated, we can observe that the presidency has become more and more powerful. This translates into greater influence over us, the population. This correlates with the importance and coverage we associate with the president. It is important that we recognize this and continue to pay attention to the powers exercised by the Oval Office. We can recognize this, and we will be able to make a proper decision of who we believe is best to be the President of the United States.

Stay tuned for the final product.

Many of us have recently turned 18, and we have been granted a power that we have not been able to exercise until possibly this month. Many of us will probably wait another three-six months for the primaries to come around, or maybe some will wait one more year until the general election of 2020. Regardless of the timeline, it is approaching very quickly for all of us. It is seen as an exciting time as we first step out to exercise, what is argued to be our biggest power, the right to vote. My paradigm shift topic will allow for the audience to be engaged because of this direct connect. As I discuss in my paradigm shift, the president is increasingly being seen as more and more influential. They are holding several powers in their executive branch due to the expansion of departments and personnel in the branch. There are a myriad of factors that led to this, but the most interesting aspect of the shift is the general increase in the presence of the president. The president has broadened their global presence and takes part in greater issues of foreign affairs. There are many global dealings occurring everyday, and with the president as the representative of America, we want to ensure that the we are being represented appropriately. There is growing stress on the president to act in line with American ideals, and it stems from the people. We want to ensure that we are getting the right person to represent America in these dealings. So, we see this rise in importance of the president. Consequently, we see the rise in importance for people to get involved and vote. We are the next group of kids that can become involved and it is important that we understand why we are doing this and that we have all of the information necessary. In my TED talk, I aim to focus on these direct connects of how the president’s powers and presence have grown, and how we have become more focused on them because of the global representation aspect of the presidency.