The 2016 presidential election between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, along with  third parties, triggered what I can only describe as a severe division within the Manhattan High School student body, as well as within America itself.

This is not inherently bad; if anything, I encourage debate as an opportunity for students to think critically and educate themselves. However, sometimes the concept of genuine debate goes unacknowledged and is replaced with arguing and conflict.

No, I do not believe that students will learn to put aside their differences and “agree to disagree.” Between those of conservative and liberal ideologies, a tense atmosphere has been created.

This only leads to aggressive arguments rather than healthy debates.

In a school where a spectrum of opinions and views settles, I think it is rather disturbing to see the number of students who refuse to hear others out, who simply believe ignorance. Along with that, there are students who simply spew harsh opinions — what one could even establish as hate speech — simply to get a rise out of people. This kind of behavior, in my eyes, is unacceptable.

I do not speak as a liberal who simply wants everyone to get along, but as someone who has been raised in an open-minded household, exposed to a wide spectrum of viewpoints and ideologies. Republican, Democrat, liberal, conservative, moderate — the list goes on, and I can easily assign members of my large family to these categories and more.

This kind of environment has not only allowed me to educate myself enough to form my own general opinion, but it also encouraged me to learn how to handle and react to other people’s opinions. I see myself as a liberal, but this does not mean I view conservatives as evil, prejudiced beings.

Another part of the division are “must haves” when it comes to deciding your political standpoint, meaning what people say you must believe in to stand on a part of the spectrum. To be a liberal, for example, many with say you must be pro-choice. To be a conservative, you must be against same-sex marriage.

However, I do not believe it is so black-and-white. Like many Americans, I have my my own views that clash with my political standpoint, such as my agreement with capital punishment, or my belief that national security comes before individual privacy, despite the fact that I see myself as a liberal.

What I believe is happening is that students within the student body do not understand that they relate much more than they think. Once we, students, realize that we are much more similar than we initially assume, healthy debate can ensue. Along with that, a fact that people in general need to come to terms with is that your right to have a certain opinion is the same right an opposing individual has. A student, and anyone for that matter, has a right to wear a Trump shirt, to hold hands with their significant other of the same sex, to center their informative essay about how abortion is wrong and against God’s will, to speak out in favor of gun control.

Respect your peers and their viewpoints, and they will reciprocate.