The recent United States government shutdown — which started Oct. 1 and ended Nov. 12 — was the longest shutdown in U.S history. The shutdown was caused by the failure of government funding being renewed due to disagreements between the Republicans and Democrats over the Affordable Care Act.

Since the shutdown, many students have expressed differing opinions on the situation. The Post asked Palo Alto United School District and Mountain View-Los Altos School District students about their reactions to the unprecedented shutdown.

Some, like an anonymous student from Gunn High School, believe that the shutdown was bound to happen.

“I think [the shutdown] is an inevitable result of the ‘going to the extreme’ of both sides,” they said. “It is not avoidable. At least not in the short term.”

They have also been personally affected by the shutdown, expressing difficulty with things like air travel.

“Flying around at an airport has been challenging when air traffic controllers are not getting paid,” the anonymous student said.

However, some students like Los Altos High junior Frankie Bengston believe that the shutdown was avoidable if both parties had compromised.

“I think [the shutdown] was mostly caused by the inability to compromise,” Bengston said. “All they really had to do was come to a conclusion via conversation.”

Los Altos High sophomore Jungsoo Hahn echoed Bengston’s opinion regarding the government’s ability to compromise, believing that the polarization of the government is also a big part of the failure to communicate.

“I do think [the shutdown] was avoidable,” Hahn said. “If there wasn’t such a political divide, … there could have been a potentially different and more preferable outcome.”