According to Danny Schechter, “Young people get the news from late night TV, the Comedy Channel, or The Onion.” He found this can be a problem because it’s not the real news. This can be a problem because without the teenagers knowing the real problems in society, when it comes time to vote they might not have a full understanding of what is going on in society. The late night shows focus more on “attitude” and comedy rather than listing the facts. Teenagers could find the news a little boring. Those teenagers are more focused on movies, video games, and comic books. This could be a problem in society because teens are getting less educated about the world, so how are they supposed to make future decisions for the country? When it comes time to vote, are they going to know what to vote for? I say yes they will know. Just because we like to watch comedy channels it doesn’t mean we don’t know what is going on around us.
This makes teenagers look like they don’t care what is going on in society. I am also a teenager, so this kind of hurts. He makes us seem that we are more focused on ourselves, that we are selfish. Speaking for myself, I am not interested in politics, so it is really hard for me to watch news on politics. I watch the daily news to see what is going on in our country, and the news also mentions what is happening in other countries. It’s not like I have no idea what is going on in this world, which I’m too busy downloading music, because this is not true. I even get a joy of reading the news paper because I feel I learn what is going on in our community. Once again though, not all teenagers are the same.
Some teens rather not know what is going on around us and focus on the new release of a video game. There are those children out there, but it is not all of them. For the teenagers that are interested in what is happening to our country, and you know someone who isn’t too upbeat with it. Start a conversation with your friend of what you learned on the news on the news paper. Sometimes it just takes a little push to get people interested in the news. It is fun bringing up a topic from the news, because normally there are so many different versions. So we all discuss what we learned and normally we come out as experts with the topic. It is fun having an educated conversation with your friends, and no it’s not “nerdy”. Don’t be afraid to start an educated conversation, you never know that someone might feel the same way. I think this is the main problem with teenagers. We are too focused on being “cool” that we are afraid to ruin our image. I say who cares about the image! We are educated adults, now lets express ourselves!
Thank you for sharing such a strong opinion on this matter. It is hard to hear people think of teenagers this way, but it is also true that many teenagers are not educated in terms of politics or worldly issues. I do not think it is because they are all uninterested or find it completely boring, only that they are extremely preoccupied. How can they find time for this when they are already overwhelmed by school, homework, sports or art, video games, hobbies, and friends? People need to realize that this is a teenagers life and that it should stay that way. Let them be young!
ReplyDeleteMy parents never forced me to watch news or read a newspaper a day in fear that I was not educated. On the contrary, I was very educated, and it came from school. So let kids learn what they need to learn and school and then let them be young. As I became a young adult I became more interested in the news and political issues. Why? Because it started affecting my life. Moving out of the house, paying my own bills, caring for myself, all becomes influenced by what is happening in our society and so I started caring. I believe this is a more natural way of transmission into adulthood.
People also do not give young people enough credit. Just because we don't have a full time job or we hang out with our friends more than grownups doesn't mean we are not experienced or wise. The way to produce an educated generation of adults is not by forcing them to be adults, but by allowing them to naturally grow and settle into adulthood at their own pace. With this will come the need to be responsible and educated in worldly things.
I know when I was growing up I could care less about anything outside my world of reality. My parents never brought any real-world discussions up at dinner. Maybe they did not want to ruin the meal. I now think they understood the world was rapidly changing and they hadn't the resources to explain why it was occurring.
ReplyDeleteMy youngest son, now 18, never engaged with my husband and I about political or economic matters that he felt opinionated about in high school. When he did, he never could offer solutions to the problems he pointed out. This aggravated us, not that he was discerning or maybe disagreed with our stance on different topics, but because all he could do was bitch about the establishment and how horrible it was. This, I feel, is the reason why old farts like me think the youth of today are unproductive.
In this world's current pace, no one has the luxury of entering into adulthood naturally. Instead of complaining about life, be creative and come up with concrete solutions about how to improve things.
I agree that teenagers are all different. There are those teenagers that do not fit the stereotype that is pegged on them. Unfortunately, the stereotype is there and is hard to fix because some teenagers do fit it.
ReplyDeleteIt is too bad that teenagers today get their news from late night comedy shows, because you are right, they do not focus on getting the news out. They only focus on comedy where the seriousness of the topic is somewhere else, but the show. They are usually making fun of someone, like the president, or some other political figure, and some teenagers or young adults care more about the laugh. To be serious is for old people.
Before my late twenties, I was one of those stereotypical teenagers and young adult, who only cared about a laugh and music. I think it is nice to hear that someone young does care about learning about these things. There aren’t too many young people that I have seen, care. I am older now and I take it seriously. I am one of those “old people” that I would call people who took these things so seriously, but I’m not actually old yet. One way I have seen an attempt to get younger crowds into politics is the “Rock the Vote”. They use music artists and whoever young people look up to, to send the message out there to get involved.
Ah yes, I remember these feelings well (old guy speaking here)- The same things were said about my generation- it seemed as if our elders were paranoid that we would globally screw everything up for our country politically. It’s kind of funny that these things are said when not 1 teenager has fucked our country over- however, George W. Bush did. I guess in a lot of ways I’m like a teenager, sure I have some knowledge about politics- but I don’t really care because there is nothing I can do about politicians and their lies. This is not to say that I don’t vote (because I do) but I am a firm believer that our Government is going to do whatever they want to us regardless, I’m just here for the ride- I would rather eagerly anticipate and research when Dr. Dre’s Detox album is going to come out rather than read a politicians deceitful explanations as to why our country is in such a bad place. I get my news from GoodDay L.A., it’s no CNBC or anything- but I like to be entertained as I listen to bullshit and tragedy; and what better way to do that then watch Fox 11 in the 8:00a.m. hour- they have it all: jubilance, elements of light- hearted comedy, and (for this guy) eye candy- I love Jillian Reynolds
ReplyDeleteI can actually relate to what you're saying, it's funny because when I was reading your blog, I was like "well that's true and so is that, and that, and well... that too, I think I agree with this blog." I mean I'm 21 now, but when I was in high school and even after school, actually let me be fully honest, until last semester when I took a poli sci class, I could honestly care less about politics. If people would ask me about politics I could only talk about the basics, like who's the current president and vice president, and perhaps some additional issues, but other than that, I knew nothing. It wasn't until I took that political science class that I began to care more for what's going on in the world.
ReplyDeleteThe reason I began to care was because my professor was so passionate, that it made me just want to learn more about politics, learn more about the issues around the world. Give my own personal well thought out opinion on that issue without sounding like a complete moron. You are right, teenagers care so much for what people will say that they rather be uninformed, just for the heck of being "cool" then again what is cool. Everyone can define "cool" differently, so why not inform yourself on real issues that are probably more important and the next time someone asks you about a certain issue you'll know what to say.