The Village High School is one of the most diverse schools in the nation, with nationalities from over 60 different countries. They are also ranked 7th out of 7,010 boarding schools in the nation for diversity. With that, political conflicts, specifically geopolitics, have been around since the beginning of time, and the involvement of students speaking up about these conflicts are a norm in our society, especially in generation Z. A current example of a very heated conflict that has been going on for decades is the conflict between India and Pakistan. A past example that got very heated was during the 2020 and the 2016 presidential election. Both of the topics are very heated  and they both provide information about how political conflicts can get involved in the social interaction and environment at school. 

One of the most controversial arguments from 2016 to this day was Donald Trump’s presidency. When Trump was elected in 2016 to be the 45th president of the United States, around 84 percent of republicans claimed to vote for him and 94 percent of democrats claimed to vote against him. “Two kids got into a physical fight over Trump’s claim to build a wall,” mentioned Vanshika Arthreya, junior, “it made the school environment feel unsafe and hostile.”Although there are obvious concerns about political conflicts in school environments and reducing social interactions in ways such as physical arguments and disliking other because of their views, there are benefits of discussing political conflicts at school in a respectful manner. The high quality discussion of controversial topics can give the student a growth of tolerance for other points of view, interest in politics and knowledge about the issues students investigate, and most importantly it increases political and world awareness. “If these topics are discussed in a healthy way, they provide healthy and open speech on things that need to be talked about, ” said Arthreya, “it creates a more open social and school environment and deepened social interaction.” By saying this, Arthreya is stating that these political conflicts have positive effects by letting people express themselves and their opinions which overall deepen social interactions.

A current conflict that has been happening since 1947 to the present day is the conflict between Pakistan and India. At VHS there have been physical fights and heated arguments between patriots of both countries. 

Talking about political conflicts at school has caused issues over the past, especially at schools as diverse as VHS. Other students such as Lydia Glaze, Patricia Malaty, and Esther Namuyanja claimed that “Learning how to speak in a respectful manner is vital to make our school a safer and more intellectual environment”. These conflicts are still important to discuss in a good manner and although political conflicts have affected the environment and social interactions in the past, talking about these conflicts has given other people awareness.