Dear World Leaders,

What happened to you? When I look at the way that you communicate with one another and the way that you solve issues, I am disappointed. What once was a world based on verbal communication and understanding of one another's issues has turned into a battle for waged on social media. Perhaps it is not your fault for succumbing to the swamp that is social media, but I expect more of you.

As leaders of our country, we elected you to grab hold of our issues, and in the past, it is fair to say that you did an impressive job. Once upon a time, you were leaders that provided thoughtful responses to sensitive problems, provided intellectual insight on critical issues, and crafted policy that bettered the lives of those living in your nation. Now, I find myself knowing no more about you than what is able to be seen on your Twitter handle, and I am disappointed.

While each country may be different than its neighbor, and therefore have different governing policies, the way that we communicate as humans should not change. When high school students hear about negotiations between "allied" or "enemy" countries, they should not hear that such problems are occurring through an immature comment made by the President of the United States. Rather, they should hear about it in an interview or debate that is conducted with maturity and honesty- qualities that leaders should have.

Regardless of the differences that exist between us, I feel that as our leaders, it is your job and should be your priority to establish relationships that strengthen humanity. What's stopping you? The media will always be there, attempting to stir up a big story that gets high ratings and a great deal of uproar, but why let it? As individuals who hold such a critical role in society, you should be putting your feet down and not engaging with all this nonsense.

I am not a world leader. I have absolutely no idea about the stress and politics that go into trying to run a country and create policies knowing it's not possible to make everyone happy. Still, I am an American citizen. I am a member of this country who cares about this country and wants nothing more than to admire the way that you lead. I encourage you to look back and ask yourselves what it would take to return to a place when the citizens of our country- while they may not have agreed with every decision being made- respected the leaders making those calls. To a time when issues were effectively raised and thoughtfully discussed, not just vented about through some platform that millions of individuals can look at. Lastly, I urge you to consider whether you can go back to a time when you communicated with one another through word of mouth, with a focus on issues rather than a virtualizes trade through a series of characters on a screen.

No country can claim to be an example for the world unless those who lead it behave with maturity, compassion, and thoughtfulness, and if this is the standard, I am afraid you all have a long way to go.

Sincerely,

An American Citizen