The election held different purposes for all those involved. For Tracy, it was just the natural progression for her after her years of “faithful service” to the school. She wanted to win because there was no reason for her not to win. Her purpose in the election was to help herself, by appearing to help the school. Paul had the most honest intentions for running in the election, even though he was coerced into doing so. He honestly wanted to be involved in the school, and since he couldn’t play football, this was some way for him to be able to. His sister had the most insincere motives for running. She wanted to get back at her ex-girlfriend who was now dating her brother. She wanted to win, to make him look bad. Mr. McAllister’s purpose in the election was to ruin Tracy’s chances. He was mad that his friend had lost his job and had ruined his life because of her and he wanted to get back at her. Causing her to lose the election was the best and easiest way he knew how.

I do not think that student government should be abolished. It may not have a lot of power, but it is an integral part of high school and learning how to cope with winning and losing. I think that in some schools, student government plays an active role, bridging the gap between the students and the administration. It also has an active role in planning events that the student partake in, ones that had the administration held would have low attendance or low satisfaction rates.

While I do not disagree with the assumption that the most popular kids get elected into office in school elections, I do not think that the elections do any harm. If anything they are good. They teach kids that in order to win votes, you must be liked, no matter what your platform is. And there will never be change in schools due to the student government, except for minor changes. It just prepares students for real life.

I did not run fur office in high school for two reasons. At my first high school, elections were a popularity contest and I was not popular enough to win, nor did I really like any of the positions. The second reason is that at my second high school, elections were very different. The school was so large, that the people who were elected were those like Tracy, ones who had been doing student government their whole lives. Since I was new, there was no way I could have one, nor did I know or care about the issues. The people who won the elections were the popular smart kids, definitely over achievers, like Tracy.

Gender was the main difference in Election; however, socioeconomic status might have played a part. Tracy is given the appearance as being less well off compared to Paul, due to her soliloquy that degraded him as a “rich kid who never has to work for anything.” In elections at my high school, both genders were represented, but girls were the overwhelming majority. There were both white and African Americans. Most people were well off, but there were a few who obviously did not come from the same economic bracket as everyone else. It did not help nor hinder them when running.

I believe that there is a line that should never be crossed between students and teachers. Even when the students are in college, professors should never have relations with students. I feel like even some friendships are pushing the boundaries, if they continue out of school. If a teacher is there to help students in school, during school hours, there is nothing wrong with that, but the line should be placed when school is over.

As the successor to a major failure, I would have to drastically re-vamp elections. For the office of president, I would only allow seniors to run. Like my high school, I would open student council meetings up to anyone who wanted to participate, so that way, even without an office, people can still participate and figure out what office they would want to run for. I feel that scantrons are the fairest way of judging election results, especially considering the past election fiascos. Students should all be given the same time frame to campaign and a budget, with an expense sheet due at the end of the race. All posters, flyers, stickers etc should have to be approved by the advisor or administration, ensuring that nothing slanderous is said. Other than that, elections have to remain somewhat open to those participating, or else they will not understand how democracy works.