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While many students read newspapers, they usually don’t read the
stories about politics or international events. They usually
read stories on local occurrences, sports, or the entertainment
section. Like anything, people are not comfortable with things
they don’t know. Therefore I decided that once a week in my
social studies class that I would show the BBC World News to my
students.
Many of students at first thought it was corny watching these
people with British accents. One student even said “What does
Zimbabwe have to do with me?” After a few weeks of watching it
with my students many started to enjoy it. Many of them had
never even heard of some of the countries that were mentioned in
the stories. The purpose of showing students the BBC news is two
fold. First I want to expose my students to the rest of the
world. Unfortunately most of the news coverage we receive in the
United States is filtered. By filtered I mean it is tailored to
an American audience with not much international coverage.
Except for ABC World News Tonight (and even that broadcast has a
very short international segment) there aren’t many broadcasters
that give in depth coverage of international news. Secondly I
want my students to develop a curiosity about the world. I have
noticed their curiosity steadily increase since the first time
they watched the first installment of the BBC news. People
cannot develop a curiosity about something they haven’t been
exposed to.
Luckily parents and teachers have the power to influence their
kids to take an interest in world events. Parents can make it a
ritual to watch CNN World or BBC World News (if you have cable)
or to read the New York Times or Washington Post online. Kids
learn by example. If parents make time to “do the news” with
their kids, children will become accustomed to “doing the news”
and will eventually do it on their own. Social Studies teacher’s
can show their students the news in the classroom and give
assignments and have discussions about the news in class. A few
weeks after I asked my students what was the United Nations and
they got it right. I also asked them who is the Secretary
General of the United Nations, and I got Kofi Banana! It wasn’t
a perfect answer but it’s a start.
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