Have you ever wondered what the youth of Leominster High School thinks about politics or government responsibilities?
We interviewed the students of Leominster High School about their opinions on the current state of our government, asking them the same three questions. We interviewed seven students.
Below are their responses.
LHS Senior Christian Joyce:
What elements of the current state of our government do you agree with?
“Umm…You know, sometimes it’s hard to remember the good when you are seeing a lot of bad, so I am just going to let that answer itself.”
What elements of the current state of our government do you disagree with?
“I feel like a lot of what I’ve been seeing is like a lot of pay to win. The more money you have, the more influential you are, and the better success you have to win over the people.”
Are you optimistic or pessimistic about the future of our government?
“I would like to say probably a mix of both, because I’m seeing a lot of candidates for the midterm elections. I like some of the candidates and some of their policies. You know it’s hard to see the good in all the bad, but you have to think about how there is always sunshine at the end of a rainstorm.”
LHS Senior Kylie Surrette:
“Like everything doesn’t seem good right now, so I don’t know if it’s going to get better.”
LHS Senior Maria Craig:
What elements of the current state of our government do you agree with?
“I agree with the fact that Donald Trump might be able to do things better for the economy, but as we can see he hasn’t really done anything beneficial because our economy is still pretty bad right now.”
What elements of the current state of our government do you disagree with?
“Um- what I disagree with is the fact of how (Trump) is going about things right now. I don’t like the way he’s going about things with ICE, with SNAP benefits, and just how he’s threatening to do things to other countries.”
Are you optimistic or pessimistic about the future of our government?
“I’m not optimistic at all because I feel like he’s just going to run this country to the ground.”
LHS Senior Ciah Crawford:
What elements of the current state of our government do you agree with?
“Really none of it to be honest. I think you know a lot of people have been making the comment that no one is illegal on stolen land and that’s very obvious.”
What elements of the current state of our government do you disagree with?
“I heavily disagree with all the things that they’re doing to the citizens for arresting them. Masks with ICE I heavily disagree with. I believe that ICE agents shouldn’t be in masks and people have the right to know who is arresting them. They have a right to understand what’s going on and what’s happening. They should not be going to high schools or elementary schools invading the parents that are picking up their kids. The government shut down, I believe both parties are heavily at fault because they need to come up with something that benefits both of them. I don’t care- you guys need to put your egos aside and actually fix what is going on instead of being concerned that Donald Trump is (expletive) tearing down the East Wing to make a ballroom. That is the least bit of our concerns. I understand that the White House is very important, but we need to focus on getting the government back. We need to focus on trying to get food stamps back. It is just really devastating. Like for me, my mom is a government employee. She works for the military for the government. She has not been getting paid. It is extremely, extremely hard for my family to think about that in the next upcoming months that we might not be able to afford stuff. And if this continues it’s going to get a lot worse.”
Are you optimistic or pessimistic about the future of our government?
“I’m more pessimistic about the future. I…I personally think that both sides are just really bad, just as my own personal view. I see how both sides can have positive effects, but they have more negatives than positives. I just don’t think a lot of people grasp the understanding of just how severe life is going to get if we all don’t start locking in.”
LHS Senior Reece Soulliere:
“I don’t agree with much in the government right now. It’s hard to find things to agree with…I don’t love ICE right now. I don’t think it is particularly a good thing that is happening. I just don’t really like Trump. I just don’t think he is a great man.”
LHS Senior William Willson:
What elements of the current state of our government do you agree with?
“I don’t agree with a whole lot that’s going on right now. I don’t think there’s anything major that sticks out to me as something like, a positive.”
What elements of the current state of our government do you disagree with?
“I don’t like the absence of due process with everything ICE is doing right now. I don’t like the increases and budgets they’re getting. I don’t know if this is controversial, I don’t like the fact that the Epstein files aren’t out yet. I think those keep getting, like, pushed away. I don’t like how we are beating our record for our government’s shutdown in Trump’s first term for the second term in 36 days.”
Are you optimistic or pessimistic about the future of our government?
“I’m a little bit optimistic right now. Recently, there’s a bunch of Democratic won seats.”
LHS Senior Desmond Batchelder:
What elements of the current state of our government do you disagree with?
“Probably how they’re handling it, like immigration. As well as tariffs haven’t been great. I’m saying, like, what’s happening. I think the biggest problem is how they are handling immigration.”
Are you optimistic or pessimistic about the future of our government?
“I’m pretty optimistic because I think things could get better. It’s never a worst-case scenario.”
