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At a typical high school graduation the principal steps
up to the podium to deliver his commencement speech:
"We have prepared these young adults for the real
world. We have exposed them to many challenges, and
they are ready to enter adulthood. The past four years
have set a strong foundation for their future. They
are now ready to take on even greater challenges and
enter a new chapter in their life ... "But a recent current events poll conducted by The Golden Gater Jr. shows that the majority of young adults between the ages of 15 to 20 are unaware of the world around them.
For example, more than 50 percent of the 30 students polled do not know that presidential candidate Bob Dole is a Republican. And even fewer teenagers have heard about the Whitewater trial or the Russian election results.
"I know it's important, but it doesn't impact me directly," said Shaina Consul, 16.
While many young adults like Consul believe current events might not impact them directly, others feel that most current events are uninteresting and they have no need to know about them.
"It's not that teen-agers are not interested about the current events or politics. It is because the information is given in an unexciting way," said Ayokabatini Medlock, a peer teacher at Youth Radio in Berkeley. "Many feel that they can relate more to political rap lyrics than Bob Dole's two-hour speech."
However, some young adults feel that in order for teen-agers to be independent they need to know about the world to make their decision. They think it is unwise not to care about current events.
"In order to choose what is best for you, you need to know about the real world. This knowledge will help you make decisions for the future if you want to be independent," said Sopars Tauch, 17.
Jenny Acilla, 17, a Lowell High School senior, said, "Other people, especially adults, will make your decisions if you don't know what is going on. That's plainly stupid. How do you want to be independent and not know about the real world?"
Jason Tong, 16, said the future is why youths today should be informed.
"It's important to be aware because we're supposed to be the future generation, and if we are unaware, we will make the wrong decisions as adults or as leaders. We need to recognize the problems right now to avoid it in the future."
The poll also shows that while there are a few exceptions, many teen-agers read or watch the news only once or twice a week. But they get their news from several different sources. Some believe that "Youth Radio" or TV shows that target and focus on youth's perspectives, such as "Straight Talk" and "First Cut," are much more interesting than regular news.
"I like watching 'Straight Talk' or 'First Cut' more than CNN or 'The Discovery Channel' because these shows are done by youths and for youths. I can connect and understand their way of communicating more. Besides, I like their coverage of fashion and especially art," said Queenie Ancheta, 16, also from Lowell.
Kirspen Pirks, "First Cut" production coordinator, said, "Our main goal is trying to cover stories that impact young adults the most, stories that reporters feel that youths should be informed about to help them grow and expand their knowledge. However, we focus more on art and feature than current affairs."
On the other hand, a few young adults believe that they would rather watch regular news or read the newspapers than watch "Straight Talk" or "First Cut."
"It's good that the media decided to appeal to teens. But somehow I don't get as much information about the current events from these programs than from regular news," said Acilla.
Many believe that youths today are turned off by politics for many different reasons.
"Because the media tend to portray the negative image of young adults, they have less faith on what the media have to say," said Ayokabatini.
Madelyn Pyeatt, an English teacher at Oakland Technical High School, explained that the family's economic status may impact their way of thinking.
"The level of political interest in teen-agers is probably influenced by their family values or status," said Pyeatt. "If the parents are educated and understand the world, then they can encourage their kids to watch the news and be informed about the current affairs.
"I saw very few students today that have the same level of interest as teen-agers during my generation," Pyeatt added. "They don't have the same curiosity about politics or the world."
Many of the politically aware teens were concerned about their future, especially our government, which they say requires an educated public.
"A stable democratic government needs the cooperation of an educated public because the majority will make the decisions," said Tong. "But if the majority are unaware and make the wrong decisions, democracy can turn into dictatorship."