Students should strive to become politically conscious

Scout Molder, Editor-in-Chief

An important part of success is learning to prioritize, and sometimes it’s necessary to put off doing things that won’t really affect you for awhile. For example, it’s OK to put off doing that English project due in a month in favor of your math homework due tomorrow. However, there’s something we as students often put off that’s much more important than an English project: becoming politically involved.

The excuses for not being educated when it comes to politics are abundant and often legitimate. Many students argue that it’s unnecessary for them to get involved in something that they do not have a say in. Others question why they should care about something that they don’t feel affects them. The excuse I used to make for myself was that I was too busy to dive into the complex and intimidating world of politics.

While all of these excuses are often at least partially true, they’re not enough reason to be clueless about the world around you. Yes, it’s true that you can’t vote until you’re 18 and maybe things like tax or health care reform won’t affect you for at least another couple of years, but that doesn’t mean that you should completely ignore them.

The simple truth of the matter is that in a few years these things will start to affect you, whether you choose to be aware of them or not. If you start learning about politics now, then in a few years you’ll feel confident enough to make an educated decision on things like elections. The more you know about what’s happening in politics, the more opportunity you have to make a change when you disagree with something. An educated vote will always carry more weight than an uneducated vote, because when you have an understanding of what you’re voting for, you can ensure that your voice is truly being heard.

Imagine it this way: Your teacher asks your class to vote on whether they’d like to have no homework for the rest of the year or homework every night. Most students would vote to have no homework without even questioning the logistics of the situation. But what if you knew that instead of having homework, your grade would be 100% tests? Would you still make the same decision?

The same thing is true in voting in our government. Not every decision you make is as simple as it might seem, so the more you know about something before you make a decision the better off you’ll be in the future.

Because the world of politics is so complex, becoming politically involved isn’t easy. However, it is necessary. All students, regardless of social status, should make an effort to be more aware of what’s happening in the world around them on a larger scale than just their high school.