By Andy Quintana |Staff Writer|
We cannot pinpoint the exact date when the Roman Empire fell, but we sure as hell can identify when our country almost defaulted to ruin.
Our country has just experienced what can be called “national shame day” on Oct. 17.
Shameful because our country almost defaulted, and all we did was use band-aids to cover up the holes in the dam.
We however have chosen to be ill-informed and unaware.
This needs to change.
We need people, young people, to become informed citizens, but most importantly, we need them to actually care. When we don’t care about what’s going on, we expect others to do the caring for us.
Westorlandonews.com places the blame of students being misinformed, solely due to laziness and inactivity within social and cultural issues.
“American students seem to fail to realize their roles in civil rights, equal rights, anti-war and other protests based in how previous generations were aware of social issues,” said westorlandonews.com.
“Students have to seek the truth and refuse to settle for watered down versions of what we are teaching them to know, instead of teaching them how to think critically.”
CSUSB alumni Roger Hazel III shares that he has conversations with students about current events happening in the world around him.
“I’ve had plenty of conversations about things going on overseas and with Congress,” said Hazel. “The thing is, people want to know what is going on in our world and are willing to listen.”
Hazel continued, “We need to get information from news sources that we can find on our own, that provide well-formed and factual information, and not just a news station’s biased rendition of it.”
There are ways for students to increase their awareness of the world and it is not as hard as one may think.
cuindependent.com presents possible solutions for students to become well informed citizens, while hinting that time should not be a faction.
“Pick up a paper, turn on a televised news source that works for you, or navigate your way through news and politics on the Internet,” said cuindependent.com.
“Once you determine your medium of choice, commit. Catch up on the headlines after dinner every day, between classes, or on the bus; there is always time.”
CSUSB alumni Nin Garcia gives hope to those young people that truly care about the world around them.
“The majority of people are far too concerned with gossip, trends, technology, and intimacy, but I have faith that there are still some young people that are well aware of the world around them,” said Garcia.
My generation will inevitably age and become dependent on the leaders that we help shape today.
Those leaders will need to be ready to care and work for the world that they will eventually inherit.
If we raise awareness on the things that matter most in our world then, upcoming generations will follow suit.
Pick up a newspaper, turn on a television and watch the news, educate yourself on the happenings of the world.
We are the future therefore we have to make sure that we know what happening in the world.
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