The Trump-Clinton debate: What would high schoolers do?

Young Genius students' advice for Hillary Clinton and Donald J. Trump was posted in San Jose Mercury News on 9/26/16
By PATRICK MAY
PUBLISHED: September 25, 2016 at 9:00 am | UPDATED: September 26, 2016 at 8:32 a
On Monday evening, as the gloves come off for the first of four presidential debates, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump may well want to heed the advice coming from some Bay Area students not even old enough to vote.
The region’s high school debate clubs are some of the best in the country, with middle- and high-school students well-qualified to counsel the candidates as they enter the debate ring, as well as to assess the candidates’ strengths and weaknesses.
Here’s what they told this news organization:
RIYA KALRA, 13, ninth-grader at Saratoga High School and attendee at Young Genius, lives in Saratoga
Advice: “Hillary should focus on pointing out the differences between her and Trump, since Trump will most likely try to insult her instead of talking about his own plans and policies. As Michelle Obama said, ‘When they go low, we go high.”’
Preparation: “Hillary and Trump are already well-versed in their own and each other’s policies. What they should focus on is making the debate easy to understand and relatable for voters. They should focus on issues the voters feel strongly about.”
Strengths and weaknesses: “Hillary is extremely qualified, strong, and logical. Trump is brash, cowardly and racist. The reason people don’t vote for Hillary is because of her likability. People just don’t know what to expect from a female candidate, so they are quick to criticize.”
RAJ JANARDHAN, 14, ninth-grader at Saratoga High School, attendee at Young Genius Bay Area Debate Academy, lives in Saratoga
Advice: “My advice to Trump is to be a little more presidential during the debate, for that would help him draw in some more of the undecided voters. He should also be very aggressive because Hillary is very vulnerable at this state in the election, and Trump can take control of this election with a strong showing. Hillary Clinton needs to be very aggressive also, talking about Trump’s alienation of certain groups. If she can emphasize his supposed bigotry, the undecided voters will be reluctant to go to Trump and therefore help Clinton’s campaign.”
KIRAN GAREWAL, 13, homeschooled and attendee at Young Genius, lives in Palo Alto
Advice: “They need to try to appeal to voters emotionally. This election, so few people are motivated by the candidates that many people have just decided to tune out of politics for this year and not vote. For example, although Martin O’Malley didn’t end up getting anywhere in the primaries, one thing that he was great at was telling stories about situations that people he had met were in rather than just boring listeners with numbers and statistics.”
Preparations: “They should refrain from personal attacks but instead attack about what the other candidate has done. Given that Trump is a few points behind in the polls, he needs to do some research and catch up because in the debates, he will be speaking to the whole nation of 318 million, rather than just his supporters.”
If you have any question about debate contact Young Genius, Bay Area Debate Academy at info@younggenius.org