Are You Raising Informed Kids?

Ask a teenager who Taylor Swift’s latest beau is and she can probably answer in a heartbeat, including where they were last photographed in public. Teens can also tell you who the latest YouTube sensation is, when the next Hunger Games movie comes out and who is Denver’s starting quarterback.

But do they know who our country’s Secretary of State is or who their own state senators are? Can they name any major current world events that could potentially affect the United States?

Keeping Current

No, it’s not as exciting as Taylor Swift and YouTube, but local, state and national issues and events affect us all—whether it is how we live, what job opportunities we have, how much money we have in our wallet and how safe and secure we feel in our country.

We live in a high-tech world where oodles of information is available at our fingertips 24 hours a day, yet a large majority of people are under-informed when it comes to important issues that will eventually affect their everyday lives.

Teenagers tend to be easily distracted. They prefer to spend their time watching goofy Vine videos of someone they don’t know doing something bizarre. Or maybe the latest Xbox game steals their attention. This isn’t all bad, but finding balance is the key.

As parents, it is our job to make sure that we raise kids who understand the importance of paying attention to what is happening in the world beyond what appears on the cover of Us Weekly.

It isn’t necessary to have a teen prepped on everything politics, but teens should have a general idea of who is in leadership in our country and what kind of affect their leadership is having on our economy, social issues and foreign policy.

Teaching Civic Responsibility

Now is a good time to engage with your teen about who is in office—or who will be running for office in the next midterm or presidential election—what they stand for and what they plan to do.

One of the beautiful things about America is that every adult citizen has a voice and every opinion can be expressed. This isn’t the case in other countries where elections are nonexistent or a farce and those disagreeing with individuals in power are in danger.

It is our job to honor the efforts of our forefathers who made great sacrifices—and in some instances gave their lives—to make sure we are free. We can honor that by making sure that our kids become adults who, in the future, will walk into the voting booth with a clear idea of who and what they are voting for and why they are voting the way they do.