Credit to Michaela Manfull

In his youth, as many kids do, Kat Burrows didn’t bother his mind very much with the concept of politics. It was something that adults talked about and got mad at each other over, but it didn’t usually infiltrate the world of people his age. However, as he grew up, Kat began to understand more about the issues that surrounded his generation.

“In 2020, I started actually caring about politics and getting to understand them,” Kat, who is a senior at FHN, said. “I was on the internet a lot so I got to see the world from a different point of view.”

For Kat, the internet was a way to connect with people from all walks of life and as a result, he found himself being educated on the political issues that mattered not only to himself, but the people he connected with. Seeing the countless injustices around the world, Kat wanted to take action.

“I got really passionate for fighting for people,” Kat said. “I started posting on the internet about what was happening and that passion got stronger as I saw scary policies get pushed that would directly hurt me and my friends and the people I love.”

As Kat started to solidify his personal values, identity and stances on political issues, like many others like him, he had to come face to face with the world of adults that would argue about politics. Through communication, Kat was able to become closer to his dad, Aaron Burrows, and have a safe place to talk about complicated issues without judgment.

“Social media amplifies our ability to throw out our own leanings and disparage others,” Aaron said. “I had family members come out as LGBTQ+ and thought that the things people in our own families were saying was probably hurtful.”

The difficulties that come with determining the intentions of their own family still persist today. While in-person confrontation has yet to occur, the influence of propaganda on their family and the resulting spread of propaganda from their own family has curated arguments online that manifest into lots of unspoken tension among them.

“If I take what they say at face value it’s pretty steeped in a lot of hatred,” Aaron said. “If I try to interpret their intentions it’s not so intense, but I believe there’s real-life harm done by the stances they are taking.”

While hurt and disagreements can stem from stances on political issues and how people express their stances, it can also be a gateway to closer connections for people like Kat, who is able to have more meaningful conversations with his father,and friends who are all able to relate through the mess of events constantly happening throughout the world.