[/media-credit]
- The Republican symbol, an elephant, holds the American flag.
Although it may not seem like it at times, listening to presidential candidates debate potentially uninteresting topics is vital to our country’s future. It gives us the knowledge that we need to be well-informed voters.
The winner of the Republican primaries and caucuses gives this nation one of the candidates for president. The other candidate is current president Barack Obama, a Democrat. Given that the winner of these elections could be the man to lead our country for the next four years, students at this school should pay more attention to the Republican primaries and to the elections in general.
These elections are vital to the future of the current student body, yet they are not the focus of this school’s curriculum.
For the past few years, there has been a crippling economic recession that has put our country in deep financial troubles. This recession has a major impact on our daily lives, and the next president will play an important role in getting us out of this economic rut. Because of the impact to the economy and the country itself, students should learn about the elections in the classroom.
Some would say that students should learn about the presidential elections and other current events on their own time. But, learning about current events at home on a student’s own time is simply unrealistic due to the pressures and time of classwork and extracurricular activities.
The curriculum should be expanded to include information about presidential elections. For example, if a history class is researching the United States during the 1800s, the teacher could include similarities and differences between how public officials were elected then and how they are elected now.
There are specific electives, such as Close Up, in which students learn about current events including the presidential elections, but nowhere in the core curriculum is there a requirement for teachers to educate students about current events.
Next fall, many students will be eligible to vote for the president, but without the knowledge needed to be an educated voter, the choice they make could be misinformed. Even worse, these eligible voters might exercise their right to vote and blow off the elections because they might not have information about the candidates.
Teaching about the current presidential elections should be a part of the high school curriculum because of the real impact it has on our lives. The school should put more of a focus on the current presidential elections by incorporating current events into the curriculum.