Everyone knows that politics can get messy. During election time especially, people who oppose a politician will dig up as much dirt as possible in order to lower their approval ratings, and thus lower their chances of winning/keeping office. A lot of these claims tend to be completely unfounded, such as when Trump claimed Obama was not actually born a U.S. citizen. All of this is simply a part of the way politics in the United States operates, and all politicians knew this when they decided to pursue their career. But is there, or should there be, a line when it comes to their children?

 Back in late January, Saturday Night Live writer Katie Rich tweeted out a joke about how Barron Trump, President Donald Trump’s youngest son, would become a school shooter. She was widely condemned for this joke, and rightly so. Barron is only 11 years old, and he has not done anything to constitute being the brunt of cruel jokes like these. These stories have long lasting effects as the kids see nasty headlines about themselves and then start to wonder what they did to deserve them. Barron did not ask his dad to run for president; it was not something he chose. It was forced upon him, and now he has to learn to handle it however he can. It is one thing if he had a history of getting into trouble, but even then it would be beyond inappropriate to go as far as to say he will become a murderer. It is pretty ironic actually, as some of the people who oppose Trump for his notorious bullying tactics are the ones bullying his son.

 Barron is not the only presidential child to come under fire. Throughout Barack Obama’s presidency, both of his daughters were criticized for various reasons. “The Obama girls were constantly criticized for stupid, small things,” junior Chloe Fieldman said, “It got kind of ridiculous at times.” Back in July of this year, Malia Obama was attacked for attending Lollapalooza instead of the Democratic National Convention to support the democratic party’s candidate, Hillary Clinton. The 18 year old was seen partying with some friends at the concert event, like a normal teenager, and was torn into simply because her father was the president. She had just graduated high school and should be allowed some time to just be with her friends instead of having to attend yet another political convention. Politics was her entire life for 8 years; why is she not allowed a break in any of that time? First children are held to unfair standards for reasons they cannot control, and the media feeds into the frenzy.