{"id":19322,"date":"2025-10-28T01:01:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T01:01:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/19322\/"},"modified":"2025-10-28T01:01:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T01:01:07","slug":"why-jewish-teens-arent-speaking-out-about-the-nyc-mayoral-election-despite-their-strong-feelings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/19322\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Jewish teens aren’t speaking out about the NYC mayoral election, despite their strong feelings"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article was produced as part of\u00a0the New York Jewish Week\u2019s Teen Journalism Fellowship<\/a>, a program that works with Jewish teens around New York City to report on issues that affect their lives.<\/p>\n

As a teen reporter I work hard to amplify the voices of young people on issues that affect them. That\u2019s why I was excited about my assignment from the New York Jewish Week to gather teens\u2019 reactions to the upcoming New York City mayoral election. While many of these teens aren\u2019t old enough to vote, I hoped to present a range of opinions from young people who care about their city and its future.<\/p>\n

But when I started to report on the issue, I kept hitting the same wall: None of the teens I tried to interview would go on the record with their names or their political beliefs. All eight said they didn\u2019t want that type of exposure in such a politically divisive time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The teens I met aren\u2019t the only ones who feel this way, and it isn\u2019t just the mayoral election that\u2019s keeping young adults quiet. According to Education Week<\/a>, \u201cyoung people are reluctant to discuss politics, especially without a space to safely navigate those discussions in such a polarized environment.\u201d The article found that teens often worry that if they speak up in school, their voices will be dismissed, criticized or misunderstood. A lack of confidence could play a role, too: A 2023 study by CIRCLE<\/a>, Tufts University\u2019s research organization focused on youth civic engagement, found that only 40% of students feel \u201cwell-qualified\u201d to participate in political conversations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, in private conversations, the New York City teens I talked with shared fascinating insights about the mayoral race. The discussions broadly fell into two camps: Teens felt conflicted over the morality and beliefs of the candidates, and they also feared that if they said the wrong thing, their opinions would follow them for the rest of their lives.<\/p>\n

Zohran Mamdani, the frontrunner, is a progressive and a staunch critic of Israel<\/a> who won the Democratic nomination. His closest challenger, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, is seeking a political comeback after resigning as governor in 2021 amid a barrage of sexual harassment allegations. Trailing the pack is Republican Curtis Sliwa, the red beret-wearing founder and CEO of the Guardian Angels. <\/p>\n

To Jewish teens, none of these candidates seem suitable to run their beloved city \u2014\u00a0something my sources were eager to express, albeit anonymously.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the one hand, it feels morally wrong to consider electing Andrew Cuomo, given the numerous allegation of sexual harassment. As a woman, I believe elected officials should embody the values of respect and integrity,\u201d one Jewish teen living on the Upper West Side told me. \u201cOn the other hand, while Zohran Mamdani\u2019s policies often sound compelling, in theory, I consistently find myself questioning what a sharply critical view of Israel might mean for a city with the largest Jewish population outside of Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another Upper West Side teen, a senior at a private high school, echoed a similar sentiment: \u201cThis election has been so frustrating because it feels like I have to give up one set of values to protect another.\u201d<\/p>\n

The teens I spoke to had strong beliefs. Why had they declined to attach their names to their statements?<\/p>\n

Well, according to a junior at a Manhattan public high school, \u201calthough I am not yet old enough to vote, I\u2019ve found this mayoral race both confusing and frustrating. I don\u2019t want my name attached to either one of these candidates.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI do not want my name to be linked to a political figure,\u201d explained one Upper East Side teen, \u201cbecause it can follow me into the future and change how others automatically view me when they meet me for the first time.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

This last quote, in particular, touched a nerve with me, as it highlights just how aware teens are of growing up in a society that increasingly lives online. Teens applying for colleges and thinking about their future career path start thinking at a young age. The last thing we want is for a future employer to find \u2014 and disagree with \u2014 something we said about a politician when we were 16.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As a teen reporter, my job is to give teens an opportunity to be seen and heard. My editor, who has worked with teen journalists for over 30 years, told me that she\u2019s seen more and more young sources ask for anonymity over the past five years. As our lives become inextricably tied to the internet, it\u2019s easy to see why: Doxxing \u2014 the malicious release of private information \u2014 has become a \u201cmainstream public safety concern,\u201d according to Safe Home, which conducts yearly research on doxxing. According to their report, 57% of Americans say they avoid sharing political views online<\/a> out of fear of being targeted.<\/p>\n

Doxxing over perspectives related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been common in recent years, with both pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian voices experiencing the practice.<\/p>\n

So as a 17-year-old who is constantly on social media and always with my friends, I understand why my peers are worried about sharing too much. But this also means my role as a reporter who focuses on teen issues has become significantly more difficult. I worry that as the city becomes more polarized by politics, teens and young adults will feel less and less comfortable sharing their views and, as a result, news articles can\u2019t reflect the community fully and policies can\u2019t be responsive to young people\u2019s needs. When that happens, we all lose.<\/p>\n

Compounding the reluctance of young people to speak publicly about politics is the hesitancy of politicians and media to seek their opinions. Meira Levinson, a professor of education and society at Harvard University, writes about the \u201ccivic empowerment gap<\/a>.\u201d She describes how young people, especially those still in school, are often encouraged to care about politics but are rarely given the opportunity to express their views in a meaningful way. Candidates almost never make the effort to integrate teen concerns into their campaign.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Our communal politics need to create a safe space for young people to share their opinions. And candidates should solicit teens\u2019 views if they want to make New York City a safe and inclusive city for all.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\tJewish stories matter, and so does your support.\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"Avery\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\tis a member of New York Jewish Week\u2019s Teen Journalism Fellowship in 2025.\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tThe views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of NYJW or its parent company, 70 Faces Media.\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This article was produced as part of\u00a0the New York Jewish Week\u2019s Teen Journalism Fellowship, a program that works…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19323,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[9,56,63,65,64,87],"class_list":{"0":"post-19322","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-ny","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-nyc-headlines","12":"tag-nyc-news","13":"tag-politics"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19322"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19322\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}