What do we care?

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

WAR IN IRAQ, global warming, government scandals, media madness--what do we care? We're just teenagers All we think about is homecoming, the latest fashions, video games, music downloads, the hot new guy or girl at school, and the bake sale outside the first floor stairwell. Our minds are consumed with self-absorbed notions about how we look and what we say and who is saying what about us. Right? Yes, we do think about all of that, but we think about some pretty important things, too. We care about the world and we want to make a difference, but maybe we just do not have enough opportunities to give form to what we feel. Maybe we do not have enough mentors in our community to draw out our potential voices of leadership. Maybe it is more convenient to keep us shopping in the malls rather than thinking in the halls about how the leaders of today are affecting our tomorrows.

When I entered high school, I saw a lot of opportunities for leadership: the Broadcasting Club, school newspaper, student government. ... I found it surprising, though, that the students and teachers in charge of these activities did not talk about current issues. I listened, but there was no debate, outrage, or even general discussion about the hot topics in the news. Perplexed, I spoke with my aunt, who is a law professor and the chair of the New Jersey Governor's Ethics Committee, about my experience. She recommended that I read David Mindich's Tuned Out." Why Americans Under 40 Don't Follow The News.

Mindich interviewed young people across the U.S. and found that they know less about current events, care less about what is happening in the world, and follow the news less than past generations. He maintains that the lack of knowledge and interest in the government among young people puts democracy in danger because, one day, these disinterested youngsters will be the voting majority. He concludes that the country is experiencing the greatest decline in informed citizenship--people who know and care about what is going on--in its history.

After reading this, I realized that the people Mindich is talking about are walking the halls of my high school--and that I am one of them. If we continue to be a tuned-out generation, what is going to happen when we have to take our place as leaders? What is going to matter to us? What are we going to stand up for?

There are many issues that I care about but, the truth is, I do not watch the news or read the newspaper, either. I get my information from my father, who is an avid news junkie. He clips articles for me, engages me in current-events discussions, and urges me to research the issues that spark my interest. I come from a family where holiday dinners sizzle with political and social debate, where the elders challenge the next generation to take a stand.

I felt angry with the media after reading Mindich's book because it does not seem like broadcasters and the press are taking his research seriously enough to make changes. How about the newscasters and the people who are in charge now? They are not helping us care. The media gives celebrity news more airtime than real issues and, and when it does supply information about our government, it is presented in such a boring fashion--and then they expect us to care? I felt that, if change was going to occur, it had to come from us. We had to care first.

One day in early February, I was sitting in art class trying to drown out the curses and smack talk going on at the next table. I focused on my pastels and watercolors and eventually became lost in my own thoughts, reviewing in my head formulas for the math test I had the next period I was snapped back to reality, though, by a comment from a nearby student. A senior who was failing (and whose graduation was in jeopardy) had started a discussion on the war in Iraq. He spoke about his brother going off to fight and the possibility of following in his footsteps. He was questioning whether it was a war worth dying for. It was the first time I ever heard him talk about anything with real feeling. The girl to whom he was speaking replied, "What do we care? We can't do anything about it now anyway, so why talk about it?" With that, the young man simply stuck his iPod back in his ears. For the rest of the school year, the subject never was brought up again. So, here was this person who I assumed really did not care about much beyond the songs he downloaded when, in actuality, he had--with good reason--much on his mind concerning the war in Iraq. Yet, when he began to speak about something that could change his life forever, he was silenced--made to feel powerless. It occurred to me at that moment that we are only powerless when we lose our voice, when we stop speaking out, when we let our music drown out our desire to talk about what is real. It was then that I decided to create a new journal for teenagers to express how we feel about what is happening in our world. Thus, What Do We Care? was conceived.