Teachers try to explain current events to high school students

By Laura Johnston ~ Southeast Missourian

Before the headlines about terrorist attacks and a war in Afghanistan, teaching current events was difficult enough. Keeping up with the news is just part of the challenge area civics teachers face. Helping their students interpret and understand the day's news is the bigger assignment.

"We haven't changed the way we teach but we've got to incorporate current events into the curriculum," said Dan Hecht, who teaches at Jackson High School.

Steve Mosley, who teaches classes at Notre Dame Regional High School, also tries to use news excerpts in every class from psychology to civics. In part it teaches the students that to be a good citizen you have to keep abreast of current issues, he said.

"They can find out there's a world out there," Mosley said. He uses clips from broadcast news and excerpts from Channel One reports shown each day in homeroom.

The key is to choose topics that interest students when talking about current events, area teachers say.

In Jackson, Hecht lists five or six articles on the chalkboard so students can discuss them. Mosley offers bonus points to students who can answer his questions asked at the beginning of class.

Before Sept. 11, the big news was about shark attacks and Little League baseball. This year it's been a world summit, fast food and health topics and a baseball strike.

But all those topics will fade into the background this week, as did everything else last September, as teachers begin to plan for the one-year anniversary of the attacks.

"I've asked these kids 'When did you stop paying attention to Sept. 11?'" Hecht said.

Most know that Sept. 11 changed their worlds. Now there are stories in the news every day about what's happening in the war on terrorism.

Hecht is trying to provide a good summary of what's happened since last year's attacks. To study the events as they unfolded was too overwhelming last year, he said.

His classes broke it into categories, from military and special forces to diplomatic relations and world geography. Looking at the war from the domestic side, the students talked about the role of the FBI and CIA and the national security council.

Students admit that the horror of Sept. 11, 2001, sparked their interest in world and national news. "I pay a lot more attention and am a lot more aware of what's going on outside the country," said Kelly Nagel, 14, of Jackson, Mo.

Her family makes a point of watching the nightly newscast and talking about the stories, she said. "It makes a difference because I feel like I can have an opinion and someone wants to hear it," she said.

Unlike most of her peers, Nagel is more interested in women's rights and what's happening to the people of Afghanistan than in what celebrities are doing, she said. The news of Lance Bass's failed attempts to buy a ride into space really didn't strike a chord with her.

Several students said they listen to radio newscasts or rely on the Internet for their news fix. "I read the front page of the paper, and it's usually on the radio when I'm going to school," said John Kiblinger, 14.

The war in the Middle East, and tensions with Iraq catch his attention most.

Andrew Buelow, 14, reads more about world events than he used to, and he watches more TV news. "I'm just more aware of it," he said. "It's really hard not to know what's going on, with the Internet."

The most challenging part of teaching current events is just getting ready for the class, said Hecht and Mosley.

For every hour Hecht spends in preparation with a textbook for his other classes, he spends three or more reading newspapers and magazines to know what's happening in the world.

And while the nation remembers a tragedy on Wednesday, many students now know more about the world and how their government works.

Students now see that "the things that go on in Washington and in the world can have an impact on their lives," Mosley said.

ljohnston@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126