Rincon Valley Middle Schoolers weigh in on presidential debate

According to the Rincon Valley Middle School students in Ian Myers’ third- and fourth-period classes, Hillary Clinton won Sunday night’s debate.

Of the 27 students who watched the debate, 17 thought Clinton won, six thought Donald Trump won, and four couldn’t decide.

Myers has been covering the election as a regular part of his world and U.S. history courses, with students watching the debates at home, followed up by clips and conversation in class.

The school will hold a mock election Nov. 7.

On Monday, both Myers’ third-period seventh-graders and fourth-period eighth-graders started the class discussion the same way.

After watching a clip played by Myers, in which Clinton says to the audience, “It’s just awfully good that someone with the temperament of Donald Trump is not in charge of the law in our country,” both classes elicited a loud “Ohh” at Trump’s retort: “Because you’d be in jail.”

Both classes had several things on their minds regarding the debate. Among them: how to decipher if a debate was fair to both parties and how media bias does or doesn’t affect that; the general demeanor of the candidates; and both Clinton and Trump’s penchant to offer attacks more often than answers of substance.

“I thought it was very interesting how they didn’t shake hands at the beginning, and at the end Donald Trump just left, while she was shaking hands with everyone,” said Jesse Pebaca, 12.

Pebaca was one of five students in Myers’ third-period class who thought Trump won the debate.

“In the first debate, I feel like (Clinton) did a much better job,” he said.

Cece Pelkey, 13, also thought Trump won the debate.

“I was trying to watch the debate, and I couldn’t watch anymore,” she said. “The entire debate was them attacking each other to the point where it was unprofessional.”

One concern raised by Pelkey was about fairness, and whether moderators treated the two candidates equally.?“Did you think they were giving Clinton more time?” Myers asked the class.

“Yes,” the students chorused.

“The moderator, especially in the first debate, was kind of skeptical of Trump,” Pelkey said. “He’d ask a question, and almost every single time, I feel like they expect Trump to jump in and take over the time, but I don’t think that’s really fair.”

While fewer of Myers’ fourth-period students - eighth-graders - watched the debate than the seventh-graders, the in-class conversation about the debate was far more impassioned, with students clearly leaning toward one candidate or another.

“I feel like (the candidates) spent most of their time not answering questions, but attacking each other,” said Mackenzie Cramer, 13. “They both could have done better if they had spent more time discussing what the actual question was.”

Cramer chose Clinton as the debate winner, but she thought about going undecided.

“(Trump) was like calmer, I guess, and he wasn’t interrupting as much,” said Maya Homicz, 13. “I wish they would stop focusing on why they’re better than the other person, or why the other person is bad, and instead focus on their plans.”

Evan Walsh, 13, a clear Clinton supporter, said the election is not a matter of policy versus policy, but person versus person.

“It’s not anymore who we think would make a better president of the United States,” he said. “It’s who we can support personally.”

Myers stepped in, guiding the conversation as he did throughout.

“And why is that?” Myers said. “It’s not just this election. The campaigns have become more and more about personal attacks rather than issue attacks. Why?”

Cramer answered that, especially in an election like this where Americans are being asked to vote for two candidates whose favorability ratings make them among the two least liked presidential nominees in history, it’s important to be able to connect with them on some level.

“At the end of the day, plans are great, but plans don’t usually end up working,” she said. “But if you have a specific set of beliefs you believe in, you’re going to come back to that at the end of the day.”