During this presidential election season, just like any other presidential election, it is easy to get caught up in the media’s incessant stories and updates about how one candidate called out another, on something that they did wrong in the past. The only difference this year is that a man with no political experience is running for president and is receiving a large amount of press and paparazzi attention with his speeches and stabs at his opponent.

I’m not going to bash on Trump and tell you all how good/bad he is or why you should or shouldn’t vote for him or Hillary. Instead, I am going to focus on the rhetoric from all the presidential candidates.

So far, we have seen that name calling and direct stabs at each other’s personal lives as the trending topic among the candidates. But this behavior has received both good and bad feedback. Due to the language used by all the candidates, this election has created more unrest among citizens than I have noticed in the past, and that’s not necessarily a good thing. We all know how Trump likes to make fun of opponents by making fun of their features or how they talk, but where does this put us in regards to politics as a whole?

All of the name calling and mockery is not far off from what we’ve seen in presidential elections before, but I believe this year has been far more lenient on what can be said in national debates or at party conventions. Donald Trump has used some of the most vulgar rhetoric among the presidential candidates, and surprisingly has received a lot of support from American citizens. Although we might think his words are funny or just ignorant, we can not continue letting him or the other candidates use harsh language, as it has a deeply impactful effect on the younger generations and the public as a whole.

If Gary Johnson - the Libertarian Party’s presidential candidate for those who don’t know who he is - calls Trump a “P****” and receives harsh feedback, how can Trump bash Hillary for being a woman and receive almost no negative feedback at all? It doesn’t make sense, and it’s highly hypocritical of us as a society to accept one but not the other.

We must hold each person accountable for their words and actions, as well as control the rhetoric used in public debates and events to create a political environment, instead of one that is centered around fifth-grade bullying strategies. Personally, I believe that the language used by the candidates is absurd for the position they are running for. If we are to hold people accountable for their actions and ensure that we are making the best choice, how can we let our candidates continue speaking so ill about each other and avoiding questions from the public?

Again, I don’t write this to persuade you to vote for one candidate or the other. Rather call attention to the foul and poor rhetoric used by the candidates during this election season that has, frankly, gotten out of hand. If we are to hold one person accountable for their words or speeches, we must hold the other candidates accountable for the same things and not be hypocritical as a society when voting for our next president. If one gets harsh feedback for lashing out at another because of their gender or appearance, we can not let the other candidate to lash out in the same way. It’s downright unprofessional and makes us look rather childish in the eyes of others in the world.

I personally do not want to live in a country where our next president wins because they constantly made fun of the ethnicities and cultures that make up our amazing country, especially since our diversity is what we take the most pride in. To move forward as people, as a society, and as a country, we must be able to move past the name calling and focus on issues that truly matter instead of only making them worse.