How I can bare to love politics when I am a teenager | Teen Ink

How I can bare to love politics when I am a teenager

April 21, 2013
By ChrisA.Ramsden BRONZE, Vancouver, Other
ChrisA.Ramsden BRONZE, Vancouver, Other
4 articles 0 photos 2 comments

Being a fifteen year old, who plays football and other sports, some people (those people being my schoolmates) wonder why I give a damn about politics.

It’s a good question really… I mean, teens should be more worried about their social life and education. And for the most part, teenagers do worry only about their social life (and yes, I left out education purposely).

There are kids who are considered nerds who love politics as I do. Yet, I am not called a nerd, or at least not to my face.

Maybe it’s because I usually outweigh my mates at school by thirty pounds? Maybe…

I dare anyone, who goes to high school or has less matured friends, to swagger into a group of mates and ask, “Did you hear Romney’s new policies? Aren’t they a bit suspicious?”

Without knowing those people, I am pretty sure they’ll shake their heads slowly and go back to talking about whatever gossip is infecting the school.

So why do I care about politics if it doesn’t involve my isolated teenage life.

Simple answer for both questions: I love politics because I love history and politics is history in present form.

Let me address the first answer. What is history? History, in a basic definition, is past important events. What is politics? The process of governing and deciding on problems that face a nation, state (or province, city, town, or even village. The results of those decisions become events. Those events become history.

So when I am watching a presidential debate, I am looking something that could shape the election. Romney almost won the election base off one debate. If he had won the election, I’d know I had witnessed history. The debate that turned the tide… Of course, it didn’t win him the election.

I was eleven when my sixth grade teacher allowed me to watch coverage of the 2008 election, when she was tutoring me in my homework.

I had loosely followed the election before, but I never understood the magnitude of what it meant. My teacher had never explained it to me.

On CNN, I listened and watched as the first African American president was voted in. I went home and continued to watch coverage, as the analysts explained what the victory meant.

Then I watched his speech afterwards.

It became clear to me how important politics was that day. Now, everyday I watch CNN. I live in Canada, but CNN discusses things that really matter. Things that might be history one day.

And I know that one day, I will be able to tell my children about the day a wall was broken down for African Americans everywhere. Because when you witness history, you will remember it forever.



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This article has 4 comments.


on Apr. 24 2013 at 11:31 pm
ChrisA.Ramsden BRONZE, Vancouver, Other
4 articles 0 photos 2 comments
There aren't a lot of more exciting and maybe stressing times when you are watching big unfold in the news. It will drag you through the commercials so you can get the next update.

on Apr. 24 2013 at 11:14 pm
codyabenbow PLATINUM, Kailua Kona, Hawaii
23 articles 2 photos 9 comments
Awesome article! I definitely agree. It's critical that people watch the news everyday. I mean, WHY NOT? It's history being made LIVE in front of our eyes. We live in such a global world, where one event can be shared and known within seconds around the world. Am I the only who finds this remarkable?? 

on Apr. 24 2013 at 4:15 am
ChrisA.Ramsden BRONZE, Vancouver, Other
4 articles 0 photos 2 comments
Thanks for commenting ToxicAngel. I'm glad you thought the article was good. It's my first submission so I was pretty excited to find out that it would open for so many people to read. I really have a passion for politics, but I can totally understand other teens finding it confusing. There are plenty of times I am confused myself. I think the main thing is to find out what kind of place you want to live in and then follow the party (or politician) who stands closest to those beliefs. 

DeleteMe said...
on Apr. 24 2013 at 2:14 am
DeleteMe, Nampa, Idaho
0 articles 0 photos 36 comments
Bravo! I can't believe I'm the first to be commenting on this. What a great article! Us kids really should care more about politics because history (including present history, as you pointed out) IS important. I love the other points you made, and I appreciate that you made them easy to understand. I think the thing about politics that most teenagers (including me, sadly) don't like is that it's just so confusing and hard to understand. I'm really glad that you seem to supposedly have a grasp on it and that you're willing to share with us what you've learned since you started appreciating politics. Oh! And I also adore your short, but spot-on, depictions of high-school life and such. Well done.