2020 Election: Anxiety, Stress for Students and Staff

Throughout the process of the election and the announcement of our president-elect, the people of America have felt worried and anxious.

On November 7, 2020, Joe Biden was announced as president-elect and Kamala Harris as vice president-elect. Harris is the first woman and person of color (POC) to become vice president. 

With the urgency of finding out who our president-elect was, at the moment, many students felt scared for their future. The importance of this election concerned the welfare of many peoples’ lives from LBTQ+, immigrants, minorities, and POC who felt worried about their rights. 

At DVC, some teachers held asynchronous classes and extended deadlines to give students the chance to take care of their mental health and wellbeing. Students didn’t receive a heavy workload and used regular class time as office hours. Ricardo Diaz, an 11th grader at DVC, expressed that these opportunities helped distract him from the election.

“I really tried to focus on school more while not trying to look at the phone or the news, and just be more attentive in class,” Diaz said. 

The pressure was there not only for students but for DVC teachers as well. Mrs. G, the 10th-grade Chemistry teacher, like other teachers, was overwhelmed during election week. It was hard for her and other teachers to teach while they were dealing with stress about the election. 

“I was just exhausted and drained emotionally,” Gerard said. “And super worried, stressed, and feeling really overwhelmed.” 

With stress came distraction for students during class that disrupted focus and attention. Most people spent their time watching the news and waiting on updates of ballots being counted in certain states. Berlin Casillas, an 11th grader at DVC, felt the same way as many students and teachers.

“I was anxious, nervous, worried, and very impatient,” Casillas said. “I didn’t pay much attention in class and found myself distracted most of the time.”

Despite all the anxiety revolving around the election, there were some activities in which students and teachers could distract themselves from the news such as meditating and FaceTiming the people close to them. It was recommended to take a step back and relax amidst the chaos. 

“I would go do some like mindfulness practices,” said Gerard. “Just being present, mindfully present with your body.”

However, since our president-elect has been announced, certain groups of people believe that some ballots were rigged in Georgia, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. There is no evidence of voter fraud or ballots that were rigged. This is leading the public eye and the people of America to doubt the voting process and democracy. 

“I do feel so a lot of worry and concern, for me personally, all the people that are throwing doubt into how our democracy works and how safe and secure voting is,” said Gerard.