High school students talk about class lessons and this year’s election–with voting in their future

Meghan Southey, student at Bristol Central High School, and Sydney Braccia, student at Bristol Eastern High School talk about their class lessons and this year's election Tuesday afternoon at Starbucks. | JoAnn Moran

Posted By: David Fortier November 5, 2024

Reported by JoAnn Moran

Two Bristol high school students, both too young to vote, have been prompted by lessons at their schools to follow and engage in this year’s presidential election.

“We worked with the electoral maps on the website, 270towin, to make our own charts with red/Blue and swing states,” said Meghan Southey, 16-year-old Bristol Central high student about an exercise in her AP Government class. “We used the charts to make our own predictions.” 

She predicted that Kamala Harris would win by 2 percentage points.

Sydney Braccia, 17, a student at Bristol Eastern, said her civics class watched several years of past presidential debates and compared negative and positive points.

“How the candidates treated each other, as well as their policies and if they had followed through with their promises after winning,” Braccia said.

Comparing past debates to this year’s Harris-Trump debate Braccia said, “It was less formal, and candidates showed less respect to each other. There was a surprising difference from past debates.”

The two were enjoying their flavored drinks at Starbucks mid-day on Tuesday, when they answered questions about this year’s election.

Southey predicated that the election would come down to Pennsylvania.

“I know more about how the government and electoral college works now,” Southey said. “I feel like I know how to be a more informed voter, and I am excited to vote when I turn 18.” 

Braccia said her civics class help put the voting process in perspective.

“I gained understanding and appreciation for the importance of voting and being informed as part of that decision,“ she said.

In addition to civics, Braccia also takes a journalism class, which, she said, “helped me gain experience understanding biased and unbiased reporting in the media and news channels.”

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