Political news can have quite the influence on the day to day life of civilians. The government keeps an organized system with the country that lessens the chances of internal chaos. However, that’s often not the mindset of this aspect of news because of the “political spectrum” and opinions between liberals and conservatives, Democrats and Republicans. Falls Church High School staff and students talk about their own personal opinions about political issues.

Even when being heavily interested in the topic of politics, it can be hard to find the time to inform oneself about current events, leading people to stray away from knowing the information because of a busy routine.

“I try to watch the news for ten minutes before work, but I have a son who’s still a toddler, so it’s hard to keep up,” said Megan Walker (Technology Specialist) 

Despite the decline of traditional newspapers, people have been getting their information through news apps, podcasts, or regular news broadcasting channels. This helps give people an easier way of taking in information about such a topic at a quick glance due to the growth of new technologies, letting influenced people to be informed at any given moment.

“I have the Washington Post delivered to my house everyday, I listen to NPR and BBC to make sure I’m getting world news in another perspective, and read articles.” said Terri Markwart (College and Career Specialist)

Ever since the influence and growth of social media, the usage of personal social media platforms has been a common occurrence for the more active users to be aware of the current situations happening around every angle of news. 

“I do what I can with the privilege of the platform that I have considering how personally I think it’s important.” said Vin Watts (11) 

Due to personal biases, people have different opinions on political topics caused by the political split which leads to people pushing away from being interested or voicing out their own opinions. 

”I think my biggest problem with the news cycle in general is that it focuses a lot on the negative aspects in humanity. I do think we all have that, however, I find that really sad because like when I’m at school, I talk to all these kids and they all have things to say, good and bad, and I like hearing about everything. On the contrary, I feel like with the news I specifically see so much bad.” said Brian Booth (Health & Physical Education Teacher)

Speaking of the matter of time, influences from an older age has led to big impacts within individuals’ thinking. 

“My mom definitely helps with informing me on unbiased sights and she also makes me research certain things happening in the world and politically. CNN, BBC are also really good. I check them pretty often and allow notifications.” said Miles Alexander (10)

However, individuals could take it too literally, causing younger generations to back away from the topic because it could be way too stressful and emotionally draining.

“My parents talk about it a lot so I don’t really like to keep up with it because it stresses them out.” said Zach Napoli (9).

The matter of age also impacts the way each grade and age group think about this. Often, the underclassmen don’t have the mindset of wanting to be engaged in the matter since they feel as if they can’t do anything about it.

“I feel like I’m too young to understand anything about political news and since I can’t even vote, I don’t have a say it doesn’t matter right now.” said Isabella Philips (11). 

However, seniors are almost able to vote which inclines their mindset of following politics. The importance of having knowledge about the growth of the government is crucial in further understanding the realism and the context of the topic. The US Government class has a focus on all things politics and advice on how to get involved. 

“In AP US Government, we look a lot at how the US government works and how the different branches work, how people can get involved, and have an actual project where they do get involved and then in comparative government, we look at different countries, establish their governments and compare and contrast them and look at their history is connected to modern events as well,”said Jordan Briar (History & Social Studies Teacher).

“From a young age, I feel like people without power don’t have the power through their voices that we do and I think it’s our responsibility to advocate for others whose voices have been silenced,” said Mari Amawitt (12).