In March of 2001, I was born in Lagos, Nigeria. I moved to Houston, Texas when I was ten months old which is also where I was raised. Although my family spent most of their lives in Nigeria, they learned to adapt to the American politics. In Nigeria, political corruption is profound in their government. My parents were exposed to this corruption for many years which hinder their judgement about the government in general. Luckily, their political views changed when they came to the United States and witnessed how the American government gave and protected the rights of every citizen.
My parents always remain aware of what is happening in our political system by staying caught up with the news. With that, I was able to learn about the government through my parents. They ensured I understood the basics of our political system. Along with my parents, I learned about the government through school. I grew up learning in how the government continuously influences our daily lives. With the help of my teachers and many textbooks, I was able to understand the impact the government can play in the lives of citizens.
Although most of family grew up in Nigeria, they learned to accept the different political values, ideologies, and parties of the United States when they moved here. With this, the area in which I am from helped me understand how people from this region tend to be more liberal. Large cities such as Houston tend to vote Democratic during the elections. With this, urban voters are influenced by various liberal views. They value change and collective equality for all. Most importantly, they support the government intervention of promoting economic equality and the government have more say in peoples’ lives. This political socialization will indeed be passed down to the next generation of American citizens. The norms, customs, beliefs, and values supportive of democracy will carry forward to next generation in order to spread awareness about the work and actions done by governmental leaders present today.
127 our experts are availableright now
I believe that as a young child, your family will have the greatest influence over your political and party preferences. With this, I would say that my family influenced most of my political socialization by being able to acquire their habits, beliefs, behaviors, and attitudes.
I also received my political socialization from each school I have attended since elementary. As students, we are continuously exposed to a variety of political beliefs whether it is told by our teachers or our peers. With the courses that schools offer for students such American history and government, we are able to examine and understand the government institutions. Lastly, my political socialization is also influenced through mass media. While most of the political news come from mass media such as televisions and newspaper, they also play a role in shaping my public opinion through the news and analysis provided. As the internet continues to grow, we are constantly exposed to a broad range of political opinion, information, and analysis done by many people.
Although I was not able to engage in voting in the previous election due to my age, I am glad that my age will not withhold me for the next one. Now that I have recently turned eighteen years old, I am glad to say that I will be engaging in voting this upcoming election. This will be my first time voting in any election and I am happy to be a citizen who can exercise their right to vote. After witnessing my parents partaking in voting in every election, they influenced me to do the same. I believed it is important for young adults such as myself to partake in voting because we are given a chance to select governmental leaders who will address issues impacting our generation. If I was given the chance to vote in any previous election, I would have also voted for Barack Obama. The reason behind my choice is simply because it is important for me to vote for a candidate in which who seeks to improve certain issues such protecting the environment, protecting civil liberties, and even promoting equality for all.
In terms of political party I support, it would be the Democrat party. I consider myself to be a liberal Democrat. This is simply because my views on certain issues such as abortion, marriage equality, gun laws, and environmental conservation are liberal thoughts. Although there are times when I may agree with some Republican views, I mostly align with the democratic party. I think the reason behind my choice of being active with the Democratic party was inspired by my parents. My parents as well are active supporters of the Democratic party. With my parents paying close attention to the current events happening in politics, they occasionally discuss their thoughts in a liberal point of view. I would say their views help influence my thoughts of current affairs in today’s politics.
Due to the use of social media, I was able to follow the campaign for the 2018 general election which was able to update frequently compared to other sources such as newspapers and magazines. Along with social media, I was able to use Twitter to see and discuss with my friends about the campaign process as a whole. Everyone was explaining their thoughts of the campaigns and their predictions of who they imagine will win. In addition, I have been following the politics and government in Texas through the social media platforms. I was also able to follow the national politics and issues about the Trump Administration president through the television, family, and friends. As my family and friends are always following the Trump Administration, they are also able to inform me about it as well. I also find it important to for me to know what is happening in our political system, so I myself engaged in watching the news to understand the current issues our country is facing.
As a citizen living in Texas, I find it important to remain informed about the Texas politics and government. With that being said, I closely follow the Texas politics and government news. In terms of the issues that are facing a current session of the Texas Legislature which is meeting currently in Austin in its biennial session, they range from abortion, the lowering of property taxes on homeowners, or the increase of the sales tax on every consumer in the state. One issue that caught my attention the most is the issue regarding the Texas Senate giving approval to a bill in which requires women to receive counseling from a third party before an abortion.
Texas Senate Angela Paxton, R-McKinney passed this bill to would make a woman to meet with a counselor to discuss the available resources for pregnant women in the state, which includes housing, child care, adoption services and many others. The counseling about abortion must result in being medically accurate. With this, I believe that the Texas Senate passed the bill with the interest of helping women by giving them guidance to make a decision based information about their alternative options. It would be best to make the counseling optional for women instead of making it a requirement. Making it optional will give women a choice to partake in this free counselling. Requiring women to seek counsel before an abortion can cause many controversial issues to arise because it can seen as women are being forced to engage in counseling which can hinder their personal choice of abortion. The goal should be to make this process easier for pregnant women who seek abortion by informing them about the alternative options available.
In terms of the local government in Houston, more specially in Harris county, I follow the news pertaining to the issues they are addressing. These issues include providing services to residents in an equitable and cost-effective way. A local issue that is important to me and my family is public transportation. There have been many deaths occurring due to number of accidents happening on the roads. There should be a transportation system in which encourages more people to ride the Metro. Instead of building more roads in places it should not be, we should seek other alternatives of transportation.
The statement emphasizes the need for young Americans like myself to step up and become the next leaders in politics. With the tools left behind by past leaders such as President Obama, it is our job as young Americans to take these tools and use them to help us become the future leaders of our country. As a young citizen in this country, I believe that it is important for me to understand how the past leaders paved a way for the next generation to become the future leaders of America. With our generation’s fresh ideas, we are able to create new leadership that can help to overcome authoritarian practices from the previous years. Politics is a tool in which would allow youth like myself to take action for development in this country.
