News is everywhere. We look, but that doesn’t mean we actually pay attention or understand it. According to a study from Harvard University John F. Kennedy’s School of Government, 60 percent of teenagers pay little attention to daily news.

In our parents generation, there was only one way to receive the news and that was through reading newspapers.The way we receive news has changed drastically over the past decades. Paperboys had to deliver newspapers to people, but now, we can access news with the click of a button.

With the advancement technology, having access to news at our fingertips is the new normal and it has its advantages.Though we can find news whenever or wherever, this “new normal” can have a negative impact on teenagers.

By clicking no more than five buttons, you can find the exact news article you want so why bother watching an hour news broadcast if you don’t have to?

That’s the problem.

Teens are fed news so much on a daily basis through social media outlets like Twitter and Instagram that it has become overkill. Being bogged down with politics that we think have no effect on us makes us not pay attention to important events.

It seems like everyday we hear that President Trump is trying to push a new agenda or that there’s another tragedy that strikes our community, but there’s much more to news than that.

News gives us a better awareness of the world around us. If we do not realize that it has a big affect on our lives now, we’re in for a rude awakening pretty soon.

Controversies that are happening now don’t just define right now. They define our future as a country and society.

As teenagers, we need to wake up and try to understand what is happening in our country now. By paying attention to the news, we can understand more about politics.

We’re not too young to being well-versed in topics like the government shutdown or foreign policy. It’s alright to put down your phone and turn to a news station to watch a broadcast.

What’s wrong with being knowledgeable about the world now?

It’s time for us to step up to the plate and take a swing at talking about real-life issues that are shaping our country and affecting our lives.