Written By Mary Sardinskas
Turns out, Woodland Regional High School students know two thirds more about gossip and pop culture than they do about world affairs.
A survey where a select number of Woodland Seniors were asked questions such as: “What do you think is going on in Syria right now?” and “Who had the most popular performance on the VMA’s this year?” revealed less than astonishing results. The most popular answer related to the questions on Syria was “I don’t know” while “Miley Cyrus” was the obvious answer to the VMA question.
With horrible events occurring that involve our country, students should be well-informed citizens. Students utilize technologies that give them access to this information everyday. By picking up a newspaper, following new sources on Twitter, or setting the home screen on the computer to a world news page it becomes easier for an average student to be well informed about current world issues, instead of simply relying on school to teach everything.
Teachers in this day and age have grown up during some interesting and different times themselves such as the 70s and 80s. Although teachers may not be ‘up to date on the latest gossip’ like some teens are, it is important for teachers to know what students like so they can relate to them as well. Teachers who may be considered ‘veterans’, or who may have more experience teaching may need help with this if they don’t have their own children to fill them in.
Miley Cyrus is an excellent example of this because some teachers may be around the same age and students talking about her recent actions and scandals has become more routine. A teacher who may be older most likely would not understand the ways of the teenager now and what is currently popular. When teachers know and understand what students like, they can connect it to the classroom for a better learning experience.
On the other hand, it is vital that teachers inform students on what serious, current world issues are going on. Students rely on their teachers and mentors to teach them what they are supposed to know in order to be prepared to enter into the real world. It is so important that teachers talk about current issues such as Syria and world problems and involve students in activities to make the topics interesting to learn. This is necessary because one of these students may be able to make a change the world based on what they learned in school.
Students will always desire to be up to date on things such as the latest music, newest technology, along with all of the other things quickly evolving in the ever-changing world. As students, it is important to inform adults about what has changed over the years so they know where the future is headed based on the new generation. A young technology-wizard may be able to teach someone older how to use an iPhone so teachers are not misguided about what events are going on. Technology that is taught can be applied to the real world and can also be used to make many things easier, including teaching. When students are able to help teachers in the classroom, students will learn and hopefully someday will be able to use this knowledge to make a change and fix the problems in the world they were taught to recognize.
