“You are a puppet.” “Such a nasty woman.” “You should be ashamed of yourself.” One could walk into a school and hear these insults flung to and fro by children. However, these jibes were not exchanged between immature youth but between the adults who are the candidates for the president of the United States, and these remarks are just a sampling of the many that have been flying around this election season.

Although Republican candidate Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton did debate the important issues, these topics were overshadowed by the media’s overcoverage of the insults. Because the media found a more interesting story in the petty remarks, many voters who rely on the media for election information failed to grasp the arguments of each candidate, making an educated vote harder .

By focusing on the jibes, the media corrupted the decision making of the voters because citizens focused on and judged the candidates based on the insults not the substantive issues. Even if voters understood the issues, humans are naturally drawn to insults because they excite them and grab their attention, so they ignored the principal topics.

Besides stopping the citizens from making an educated vote, the presidential fireworks have encouraged animosity between children as well. For a long time, the president has served as a role model of the youth of the country, but this with this year’s behavior of the candidates, this admiration has backfired and has encouraged cruel behavior.

For example, based on when Trump said that he would build a wall between Mexico and the Unites States, student spectators at a high school basketball game in Indiana chanted “Trump!” and “Build a wall!” against the primarily Latino opposing team while holding posters of Trump’s face. Sports games around the country have faced similar events. With this kind of behavior resulting from the conduct of candidates, society needs to question what kind of character they are approving of in this election season.

Not only did the candidates serve as a role model for children, but the candidates’ jibes set a role model for future presidential elections and local politics. Trump and Clinton lowered professionalism standards by acting as they did in the most viewed debate, causing rhetoric in the political world to become more caustic in the future.

The unnecessary fighting between Trump and Clinton has taken away the citizens’ ability to cast an educated vote and divided the country while setting a precedent for caustic rhetoric. The American people, along with the media, need to focus their attention on the substantive issues, not on the petty remarks.