Debate was 'interesting and crazy' - #lakewoodnews

When the live feed of the third presidential debate froze, students in the auditorium at Ralston Valley High School in Arvada quickly blamed the Russians. There were some laughs and then silence as the feed started again and they continued to watch presidential nominees Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump talk over each other on the debate stage.

At the end, students like 15-year-old Sabrina Reinwald were at a loss for words.

"It was really interesting and crazy," she said. "There were too many different opinions and I didn't know where to go."

Reinwald was one of 30 Ralston Valley High students to join the debate watch party hosted by AP government teacher Brian Bohnert. In class, Bohnert's students have been studying the electoral college and following the presidential race since the beginning of the semester.

"You've got students from all over the political spectrum," Bohnert said. "They can't identify with a party, but they know their philosophy."

For example, Bohnert said some of his students identify as economically conservative but socially liberal.

"You do have people who like Trump and those kids are very vocal about it," Bohnert said. "A lot of times that comes from home or a peer group. Clinton fans have reacted about how the adult population has reacted. And surprisingly, there is a third-party contingency that identifies with the Libertarians. The students have responded in a variety of ways. They are just as passionate as the voting population is."

That's why Bohnert wanted to give the student body a chance to watch and discuss the recent debate in a scholarly setting.

Who won the debate?

After the debate, students participated in a voting poll on Twitter, first selecting who they thought won the debate, then selecting who they would vote for if they were of voting age. Clinton edged out Trump, with 44 percent of students at the watch party saying she won. Forty percent said Trump won; and 16 percent said neither won.

"I'm thinking Hillary's got the upside and that's who I would vote for if I could vote," Reinwald said. "But they're both not getting to the point where I'm wanting them to."

Classmate Joey Steiskal was confident that Trump won this debate.

"He was very well prepared and he did better as the debates went along," Steiskal said. "I felt like he wasn't very good in the first debate and then he grew as they went on."

When asked who they would vote for, the tables shifted slightly with Trump getting 50 percent of the vote, Clinton 42 percent and 8 percent going to others.

"It's a little snapshot into their world," Bohnert said, adding that he views the differing opinions as a positive.

"All along in class I try to get them to put on different hats," he said. "One hat is if you are a reporter or political scientist and you need to take the personal side out of it."

But the poll did surprise the teacher a bit.

"In class, through discussions and recaps, my sense is that the students were leaning toward Clinton," Bohnert said. "But what you also find in the population as a whole tends to lean more conservative."

Jefferson County is split about one-third between Democrats, Republicans and Independents and Bohnert said he sees that reflected in the student population.

How would you vote?

Steiskal said that if he were old enough, he would vote for Trump.

"I feel like he does have a lot of experience when it comes to economics and his business," he said. "I feel like he would help in that aspect as well as military tactics."

Micky Watson, 14, would also vote for Trump. She is a strong Second Amendment believer and said she fears Clinton would limit that. She also likes that Trump speaks what's on his mind.

But Nick Tiller, 14, said Clinton is best suited to run the nation.

"Trump doesn't seem as responsible," Tiller said. "He has some businesses, but that's all he is. Hillary actually has some government experience."

For students like Reinwald, the things Trump has said recently --; which were reiterated during the debate --; have pushed her even more toward Clinton.

"That tape that was released and what he's saying about Mexicans being rapists," Reinwald said. "Even if he didn't mean it or didn't mean to say it that way ... I don't like the fact that someone would think that. But then to say it out loud and don't apologize for any of it is the part that bugs me."

The tape of Trump having a lewd conversation about women got to her the most, Reinwald said.

"It's awful," she said. "And he said it's locker room talk. If guys are talking about that in locker rooms, that makes me feel even worse. Nobody should be talking like that."

Student Ryan Jones, 14, said the tapes also influenced him.

"It sickens me," he said. "Knowing that a person who's rich and famous feels like they have the supreme power to do anything they want to a woman or to anyone is horrible."

Jones said he didn't feel like either candidate was a good role model for youth in America.

"With the recent video leaks of Trump I feel like he is less role-modelish than Clinton is," he said. "In this debate, she brought up her trying to help families and children during her 30 years in politics and that was role-modelish to me. One thing that would negate that though are the emails and private server and the lying."

Learning about the election process

In Bohnert's classroom, the topic of Trump's tapes came up because students were tracking polling numbers.

"You have to censor what to say," he said. "It's part of the election and it's a driving factor in the polling numbers."

Bohnert had his students read a news article to give them a sense of how damaging it was to a specific demographic. They also looked at the endorsements Trump lost as a result.

"We looked at the polls after the tape came out and read the article," Bohnert said. "They were the ones that made the connection."

Issues like this in such a contentious election is why many teachers are avoiding talk of the election in their classrooms, said Stuart Chandler, social studies content specialist for Jeffco Schools.

"One of the significant challenges in teaching is when you have parental mistrust about what is going on in the classroom," Chandler said. "There are some families in some communities where they don't want that talked about."

But in Bohnert's class it's about getting this generation of students familiar with the process, so they can be informed voters during the next election cycle.

Ralston Valley will have a schoolwide election and Bohnert thinks Trump will have the slight advantage.

"When you're looking at students, nuance doesn't work well when it comes to campaign slogans," he said. "Freshmen don't do gray areas. Hillary uses words that they don't even know; they aren't there yet. When Trump speaks, there's decisiveness and sound bites. The simple phrases he uses plays to a lot of people because they don't have to think in nuance ... The kids that support Hillary though, are the ones that do get into analysis and they do like to read between the lines."

from Lakewood Sentinel - Latest Stories http://lakewoodsentinel.com/stories/Debate-was-interesting-and-crazy,237899