Pause. Before you begin reading this edition of The Paw Print, we have to ask you a question. Do you know what’s going on? In the world outside Green, that is. Are you staying up to date on politics? International affairs? Tech? Because The Paw Print editorial staff have noticed a startling trend among students in Green: nobody seems to know what’s going on.
And we get it, really. The 24 hour news cycle we live in is vicious. It’s often sad, moves at a lightning pace, and is riddled with partisan rhetoric. Not to mention the rise in “social media journalism” and cable news, which only adds fuel to the fire.
However, it’s still important to be informed. Why? Well, besides having a good conversation starter at dinner, keeping up with current events allows you to have a better understanding of the world. It enables you to be a more critical thinker, and makes you a more informed citizen (which is kind of important when you consider that the majority of students here are rapidly approaching voting age).
Please, don’t get it twisted. Not all news is quality news. In this age of algorithms and growing extremism, it is easy to simply reinforce your own opinion under the guise of staying informed. Note the source material. Use websites like the Interactive Media Bias Chart to look for biases.
Remember, if you are getting your news from only one source, you may have a problem. As much as you love us, The Paw Print should not be the only media outlet in your arsenal. But for some of you, it seems like we are. The lack of awareness is getting dire within the school. We have witnessed kids who did not know about the Israeli-Hamas conflict, or even about the war in Ukraine. Even within the Paw Print, the passing rate for current event quizzes is dismal.
So what can you do to fix it? The answer is simple: stay informed. Do not trust social media for your news, and if you catch an interesting headline, make sure other sources back it up. Bias check your information, and remember that opinion is different from fact. These are simple things, but they make you a better citizen, a more updated member of society.
If nothing else convinces you, then at least consider this: it is easier to control uninformed people. It is why dictatorships control their media, why Nazis burned books. If you want to be an angsty teen, someone out to get the world, start by picking up a newspaper. Then another one. You never know what you may find.