So much happens in the world every day that impacts our lives whether we know about it or not. Understanding the news and knowing about current events is an essential part of living our lives as engaged citizens. If we want to have a say in how our world functions, we must first understand what is currently happening and why. Below are some of the things you can do when you learn about current events:
Form your own opinions on national and international events
The news is meant to be reported in an unbiased manner so that readers can gather all of the information and make their own informed opinion. If you only hear about news from your one professor or from your parents, you are most likely hearing about it through their perspective. In order to form your own beliefs, it is important to read or watch the news and to gather all of the facts.
Learn about the world around you
People are too often only familiar with the world they know. While there is comfort in familiarity, there is an entire world that you can learn about when you read the news. The war in Yemen, the G20 summit and the conflict in Ukraine are just a few of the things you could understand if you were up-to-date on current affairs. This always creates the ability to understand diverse perspectives and the difference between cultures – something that can help everyone in the world when building impactful relationships.
Participate in meaningful conversations
Have you ever been in a discussion with someone when a topic comes up that you are not familiar with? The more you know about current events the more you are able to engage in conversations about important topics. Not only does this help you seem impressive to the other people in the conversation, but you can also learn about their viewpoints as well.
Improve the problems you see
Once you start learning about current affairs, you will start to see important issues that are taking place. While hearing about violence and human rights violations can be disheartening at times, it is important to know about these issues so that you can work to make a change for the better. It can be as simple as participating in a march or donating money, so once you understand current issues you can find a cause that you care about.
Make smarter decisions
Making important decisions can be tough, especially when you don’t know the possible consequences of the decision. Staying informed can make you knowledgeable on decisions regarding your health, money, family and so much more. Without the knowledge of current affairs, these decisions could be made without regard to the latest policies or innovations; therefore, in order to take care of yourself and those around you, it is imperative that you are making responsible, informed decisions.
I first started paying attention to current events and reading the news in my first semester of college. We were quizzed on current events as part of the curriculum for my COM107 class, so I signed up to receive theSkimm, The New York Times newsletter and news notifications to my phone. Becoming an informed citizen not only helped my grade in that class, but it also helped me understand the world around me so that I could participate in conversations in a more intelligent manner. Most importantly, however, I began to see how I wanted to spend the rest of my life – impacting the news in some manner or working to fix the many injustices in the world.
Sarah, your website is amazing! I’ve taken so many notes on details that I want to apply to my website. Your creativity and professionalism can be seen throughout this blog post! You did a great job!
When I was in high school, I used to take interest in current events and public policies. I started and captained my policy debate at my high school and led my peers to gain a knowledge about governmental issues. It was the best and craziest time of my life. From sitting up all night reading cases and documents to thinking of rebuttal arguments in under a minute was truly thrilling. So, I appreciate when others are interested in what’s going on in our government.
Forming an opinion is SO IMPORTANT! However, having knowledge to back up your opinion is more important. I feel as though one should never speak on a topic they have little to no knowledge about. I guess it’s the policy debater within me but evidence is the best advocator in my eyes. Thank you for bringing to readers’ attention that improvements lie in our hands. Whether it be voting or being on board of trustees, we have the power to use our will to make the improvements we want to see.
All in all, you blog was made in perfect timing. Like many elections, the 2018 midterms were difficult due to the public’s lack of knowledge about candidates. In order to engage in news and campaigns, people need to know the importance of knowing current events. Luckily Sarah, your blog does an excellent job at being a needed informative source.
Sarah, I so appreciate this post! Knowledge of current events are important for any informed citizen. If you’re ignorant to the ways of the world and what is going on around you, how does one expect to survive in our ever-changing world?
While it’s difficult to keep up with everything going on around our globe, I like to find apps and email subscriptions that effortlessly send me news instead of me having to search for it. I have notifications set up for news sites on my Macbook and iPhone, and receive daily updates via theSkimm in my email inbox! When these notifications pop up, it’s so easy to skim through headlines and see the big news throughout the day. For a college student who cannot sit in front of traditional television news sources all day, I’ve found my transition to social media news methods easy!
I attribute my college affinity for news and correct news presentation from my entry class at Newhouse, COM107. For our current events quiz, we had a 33-handle Twitter list that contained all major news sources. As each of these sources were updated almost every three minutes, that turned into a ton of news we had to know! While I would grumble about having to constantly read this Twitter list, it taught me that news does not stop for anyone and it’s important to try to be well-read.
I love your tip of participating in meaningful conversations; I add to this tip that students should use their knowledge of current events (of any capacity) to leverage their own conversations. Often times, my “ice breaker” into a conversation is about Syracuse University current events or other events that pertain to the audience. It’s an easy way to talk to others, and I recommend to all college students!
Sarah, this post is extremely necessary and relevant! Being able to understand the world outside of our own and hold a conversation about our opinions is a valuable skill. Our opinions are an essential part of who we are as people and differentiate us from others. Sharing these opinions with facts in a respectful manner leads to interesting and engaging conversations with people you may not have talked to otherwise. Your point about improving the problems we see is important in realizing the effect of learning about current events. Noticing a problem and understanding the root of that problem from watching and reading current events allows people to participate in a cause they are passionate about and spread awareness on the issue. While I did try my best to pay attention to current events in high school, COM 107 was the push I needed to focus more on reading the news and understanding relevant events around the world. I have become more confident in sharing my opinion when reasonable to do so and I can carry compelling conversations regarding important topics better than I could in high school. As we continue on our careers in public relations, knowing the news is an undeniable asset for our success.
Sarah, I enjoyed your piece on the importance of being up to date with politics. In this day and age, information moves at an incredibly rapid pace and sometimes it is hard to keep up with all current events taking place over the world. However, like you mentioned, politics directly affect us, and to ensure our voice is heard, we must be well informed on the issues in our nation. Once we’re aware of all the problems at hand, we’ll feel inclined to help spark a positive change within our community. I like how you mentioned politics being a significant topic of conversation, especially in the current political climate we are living in. When I hear individuals with strong opposing political views from mine, I feel the need to voice my opinions as well, but in a respectful manner. Specifically, when the individuals speaking on behalf of certain political issues are misinformed, but still choose to be ignorant on the fact. By increasing your knowledge on politics, you can form your own set of opinions and create valid arguments to support your stance. Knowledge is power, and becoming socially aware on the issues taking place during this time will only heighten your character, as well as your intelligence.
Sarah,
I like how you changed up this blog from your usual about current events. As a political science dual, I consistently urge people to follow current events because of the huge impact it has on our daily lives. I have struggled to keep up with current events because of the nastiness of our current political climate. The constant attacks from people on either side of the aisle continue to polarize and tear apart our country without informing people about the facts needed to make their own decisions. However, because of the current nature of politics, I find it very difficult to get those same people to interact and share their views in a constructive and cordial way. I think you did a good job giving people a couple quick things that they can do to become more involved in current events. I think that your post does a good job at giving people strategies to broaden what they are taking in in order to gain a better standing with current events. I think being in college, we are in a special time in life when people are starting to inform their own opinions on politics. Most people tend to stick with views that their parents hold when they are younger, but at least in my experience, the exposure to different types of people and culture in college can help broaden views or strengthen some views as well. Maybe universities should think about making a class about current events that every student must take in order to help create more well-rounded individuals when they graduate.
-Ryan
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