Learning about current events from my students
Teachers who tune out mainstream news end up relying on students as their primary source of world information. This lack of outside awareness leaves educators unprepared to discuss major public figures and cultural shifts brought up in the classroom.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Avoiding mainstream news entirely
- 2Ignoring background news in public spaces
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Had some students ask me about Charlie Kirk and I was like WTF you asking me about him?”source ↗
“I learned of Charlie Kirk from students at Debate practice.”source ↗
“I haven't watched the news or kept up with the world at all in about two years, and I just realized a lot of my perception of the world is what I've been hearing through my students”source ↗
“Anyone else just shut down since the 2024 election and completely blocked out the world and mainstream news?”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 2How to talk to students about a sudden national crisis
- 3How to know what your kid did at school all day
- 6Why do young children make up such alarming stories?
- 3How to teach 9/11 to students too young to remember it
- 5How do I get people to actually read project update emails?
- 2How to help kids understand what test questions are asking