Step 2: Research
February 4, 2020
Students today are turning to social media to serve as their primary informant. While Instagram story reposts can inform you of a lot—headlines, this week’s hits, the funniest memes—they don’t do much to actually inform individuals on current events and the information necessary to cultivate in-depth knowledge. Knowing the headlines is great, but going beyond the headlines and researching the story is where information comes from.
An infographic depicting ways for individuals to inform themselves.
To make understanding current events digestible, try small doses of news in your everyday life. Turn your news app notification on. Take a second to read the headlines, and a minute to research the story. Subscribe to email services, like the Skimm, to get the news explained to you each day in concise and easy terms with links to more articles. Popular news outlets like the New York Times and The Washington Post offer free news briefings that explain current events. Our own library carries free print copies of political and informative magazines like TIME and The Economist that can be easily checked out. Print subscriptions to even one of these sources can cost upwards of $50, yet students can access them for free. Outlets like Vox and BBC publish helpful articles and videos that summarize current events, explaining the history and giving context.
Elections can easily be incorporated into the classroom as well. Classes like Challenges to Democracy, AP Comparative Government, AP Government, Philosophy and Ethics and AP United States History all offer in-depth ways to analyze politics today and understand why our world is the way that it is. Teachers are an invaluable resource in understanding society today, so reach out and get involved! Asking questions and making an effort to understand politics is what counts, so why not bring it into the classroom?
Having educated opinions and a springboard of information will launch into your voting career as an informed voter.
In a society with information just a split second away, it’s our duty to use our voices and minds to vote for a better world.