Should I pay attention to politics, or wait to learn about them when I am older?

Hi Olivia,

Thank you for sharing what many students think about politics.

It's important to stay in touch with what is happening around you. It may be local events, things happening in Washington, DC or news from the other side of the world. Staying educated & informed will set you apart from your classmates & help you understand global changes that will eventually trickle down into your local school/community. Having a clear view of what is happening in the world is like carrying around Harry Potter's invisibility cloak with you ... you'll be able to see/hear things that are going on and have the opportunity to act by educating others, adjusting your school or work plans and even to take steps to foster change in your school/community.

I hope you will continue to keep up with politics because you never know when something you see or hear about will lead you to an opportunity/door you had never thought about.

Yes! If you think politics is interesting you should absolutely consider paying attention to political news this year! If you live in the United States, elections for president only happen every 4 years, so this is a particularly interesting year to start paying attention to politics because you can watch how leaders get elected to the white house and to congress. I'm a journalist, so I follow politics very closely so that I can write news articles to help people understand what is going on. Following politics can be lots of fun and its really great to learn about what is going on in the country. The decisions that are made in congress, in the white house, by your state's governor, or the mayor of your city or even on your school board are all political decisions which will all impact your future. Its great to learn more about it so that maybe in the future you can get involved in deciding how we can make good decisions to run the country well. So I would say, following politics can be fun and interesting, and if you think you're interested in it, then sure, follow it! If you find it boring, well... that's okay too, you wouldn't be the only one.

Politics are definitely interesting but the best thing you can do as a young adult is distinguish the news from the farce. There are some politicians who are talking about real issues and others who are throwing in scare tactics and crazy analogies to pander to extremist voters. Learning which policies are based on truth and logic will make politics a lot more effective for you to understand. It's a lot easier on social media for people to share opinions; remember that these may not always be based on accurate facts. Hope that helps!