The Hewitt Times

Last week Alexander Heffner, host of The Open Mind on PBS, talked to the Juniors and Seniors about the effect of social media on politics and civil discourse, and moderated a panel that evening to discuss political engagement, particularly among women. The panelists were Jessica Lappin, President of the Alliance for Downtown New York and former New York City Council Member, Kimberly Peeler-Allen, Co-Founder of Higher Heights, and Cathy Lynn Taylor, Author of Red is the New Black: How Women Can Fashion a More Powerful America.

The discussion centered around becoming educated and politically active, particularly as a woman. The panel discussed their views on being women in their historically male dominated fields, and how they stayed true to themselves and expressed their opinions often as minorities. They discussed the challenges, but also sometimes advantages of being one of the few women involved in politics and civil action in today’s world. They shared their views on the challenges in society of information, dissemination, and education on issues, which is now primarily taking place on social media.

There seemed to be a consensus on the often lack of in-depth understanding of world issues, as a result of gathering information from often unreliable social media platforms as a means of educating oneself. The most concerning issues seemed to be misinformation in the media, superficial soundbites on Twitter, all of which in general seem to encourage a shallow or misunderstanding of local and global issues. The challenge we face is educating our youth in a meaningful, impartial way and encouraging constructive dialogue and unity to solve issues and move forward. It seemed clear in the discussion that the pendulum has swung too far in the direction of identity politics and self-interest. All seemed to agree that the path forward must be driven by unity, finding and pursuing common interest and goals, and focusing on the things we care about that we have in common and improve it for all of us.