Whether it is the newspaper, TV, or TikTok, these sources are rapidly taking in information about our society and as the world becomes more connected, we need to stay informed. Being teenagers in high school means that we are soon going to be the newest adults, making legal decisions and choosing career paths. It is our duty to ourselves to research new things about the world, science and art.
In this growing world, being a teenager can be exciting, but also disheartening, because the problems of our world can seem too hard to handle sometimes. According to the New York Times, teenagers actively avoid the news because it is scary and depressing. 16-year-old Haylei Coolican states in the article, “The news scares me; it makes me feel unsafe, uncertain, bored, sad, and most of all, anxious.” In this story, several students explain they feel helpless when it comes to the decisions the government is making regarding the lack of help in Iraq and the illegal actions our political leaders are taking. Therefore, when these problems become too big, we tend to shut out the information and deem the problem insurmountable.
It is crushing when you feel there is nothing you can do to help these uncomfortable problems. However, it is important to realize that these problems, although scary, are important to understand because one day there will be time for us to make these changes. By staying informed, we are already positively preparing teenagers for adulthood, whether they realize it or not.
Adulthood is not that far out, which means it is time to start preparing for some decisions we will have to make eventually. The Teen Magazine is a company that creates a magazine explicitly for a younger audience to engage and empower them to learn news about the world. In the article “Why Every Teen Should Make Reading the News a Daily Habit” the article highlights the importance of staying informed as a high school student to understand our ever-changing society. By taking in this information, students not only get different worldview perspectives, but it also reveals ongoing problems they may choose to solve as adults. By learning about political issues and scientific problems like global warming, students gain the need to make a change.
Understanding this information doesn’t just prepare us for our future careers, but is also necessary when it comes to making political decisions in our community. In Omaha, we have a mayoral election coming up on May 13, deciding whether Jean Stothert will get elected for her 4th November, we had our 2024 presidential election. Although we have four more years until the next election, students are learning to stay informed about their community and nation.
Staying informed voters is necessary to help not only yourself but your community. The international intergovernmental organization, the United Nations, is notorious for fighting for peace and protecting the rights of all people. In their article “Voter and Civic Education” they clarify why people should have access and participation in learning about what they are voting for. This is necessary to know what you are voting for and teach people how to vote. In some countries, the UN attempts to firmly teach women they have the right to vote and how to go about voting.
For centuries, people have been spreading news throughout the world in different ways. On the online app TikTok, the new trend NewsTok has blown up, teaching app users about current global and national affairs. However, these small, second-long videos can have a large price to pay, with many of these influencers being political extremists. Political extremism can cause many biases in the media, making it hard to know whether your source is trustworthy or not.
It is necessary to fact-check the information we receive or at least use news sources as trustworthy. Although there is no such thing as unbiased information, we can still do our best to avoid misinformation and disinformation. National Public Radio (NPR) discusses how to help you and your loved ones avoid this toxic plague in our media today. They show that it is important to be cautious of all information and find different sources to fact-check this news. Although it may offend you and others to be told the “factual information” you understand is wrong, it is important to accept these different points of view.
Now we can all choose what way we want to take in our daily dose of news, but we should all make the active choice to make sure we are taking in truthful, mildly biased information. Staying informed is something we all have to do, and even though the world’s issues can be daunting, news is what empowers us to make active change in our society. So keep reading and fact-checking because maybe someday you can change the world and fix these scary problems.
