The hallways are lined with posters for clubs and the upcoming events. As students filter through the hallways during passing periods, voices echo through the halls, numerous conversations becoming one.
As the political climate shifts nationally, the atmosphere at PHS is shifting too, with some students feeling more confident to speak about their political opinions and others keeping their opinions to themselves.
“I feel that most of the time, the political conversation is with more left-leaning people,” sophomore Dean Kvoriak said. “But there have been times where I’ve gotten into more intense conversations with people who have opposing views.”
Kvoriak said that because there are more right-leaning people in power right now, students with similar views at school feel more willing to express their opinions.
Similarly to Kvoriak, sophomore Noah Sarlin said that he believes people’s comfortability with talking about politics in school has a lot to do with the current administration.
“I think in many ways the 2024 presidential election was more momentous than in 2016 because I think 2016 was more of a surprise and this felt more like an upheaval,” Sarlin said. “So I think in that sense, people do probably feel more comfortable expressing those kinds of right-leaning views.”
Junior Aliya Vora said that she thinks that students feel more comfortable on campus depending on what the topic is, specifically when taking into consideration that Piedmont is more democratic leaning.
“I think that some topics can be a bit more contested like the DEI stuff,” Vora said.
Vora said that while DEI is important, students don’t get Academy to complete their work due to the DEI assemblies that happen during Academy.
This school year, the Belonging assembly was held during Academy. There will be the History of Piedmont presentation for the tenth graders and the Consent assembly for the ninth and twelfth graders.
In addition to DEI, junior Ben Ramakrishnan said that the political conversation differs based on what the scenario is like.
“It differs if you’re talking about it with friends, versus if it’s brought up in a history class,” Ramakrishnan said.
Being friends with people who have differing political opinions is something that Sarlin said he has experienced.
“There are certainly people who I’m okay talking about my political views with and it’s usually an agree to disagree situation but in a productive way,” Sarlin said.
Sarlin also said that there are some people who he won’t discuss politics with and that on campus, people are averse to talking about politics, while on social media he can see what people like on Instagram Reels.
“It’s weird seeing that window because it’s something that they don’t usually talk about at school,” Sarlin said. “You see them liking content online and it shows a different side of themselves.”
Ramakrishnan said that he thinks social media is a very different environment, so people will definitely feel more comfortable expressing their opinions.
“It’s sort of an echo chamber of the majority of people, the audience, that they’re speaking to agrees with them, rather than have a debate about it with people who don’t necessarily agree,” Ramakrishnan said.
Ramakrishnan also said that when this echo chamber situation happens, is when people begin to feel more empowered to get more extreme with their ideas.
“So while people may be sort of concealing their opinions at school to not get into a contentious situation, when they’re online, that can really be amplified,” Ramakrishnan said.
While students on social media feel more comfortable expressing their views, Sarlin said students on campus can be protective of their political views because they don’t want it to turn into an issue.
