The young. They’ll get your mind off the election for a while, and make you feel better about the future, no matter what happens in November.

Clinton, Sanders, Trump. Distrust. Trust. Fox News. MSNBC. Twitter. Facebook. “Ready for Hillary”. “Make America Great Again”. “Feel the Bern!” Emails. Walls. Muslims. Immigrants. Evangelicals. Natural born. Refugees. Unborn. Liberals. Born again. Conservatives. Birth gender. Socialists. Wall Street. Main Street. Fair Trade. Protectionism. Bathrooms. Boardrooms. Things are bad. Times are good.

On and on it seems to go. Everybody wants to talk politics, but you can’t with friends or relatives. It’s enough to make your head spin. You can get lost in it all. You can start to believe that everything’s wrong, and there’s nothing good to be found.

Well, there was good to be found today, for today the fifth grade class from Holbrook Public Schools’ South School came to the State House. They’ve visited before, and for many of them it was their third visit over the last year. They were at the State House to make presentations about their school project, i.e. to promote, and have Massachusetts declare, September 21st as World Peace Day in Massachusetts. They are good kids, really, really good kids, led by a terrific teacher. They love their school, their town and their country, and I am so confident they will make a difference.

Later in the day I had the opportunity to go to the Quincy Asian Resources, Inc. “U & I Mentoring ‘Our Story’” Final Showcase. In partnership with the Quincy Public Schools, QARI hosts a one-on-one mentoring program between high school students, who serve as mentors, and new immigrant students at the Atlantic Middle School. Today, at North Quincy High School, they presented their projects. Many of the mentors and mentees are from China and Vietnam, but others are from Peru, Portugal, El Salvador and Venezuela. Their stories are nothing short of incredibly inspiring. The mentors and mentees are good kids, really, really good kids, led by terrific teachers and by a great organization, QARI. They all talked of their love for their school, for Quincy, and for the United States. Again, I am so confident they will make a difference.

So, let’s take a little time, now and again over the next few months, to stop and appreciate what’s good about our communities, our country, and our people. Let’s recognize that there’s more good than bad in and about our hometowns, our state, this country, and all across the world. Meet with the young. They’ll get your mind off the election for a while, and they’ll make you feel better about the future, no matter what happens in November.