Top 5 Ways to Keep Students in Touch with World News
It’s really tough for college students to stay in touch with news happening off campus while they are away at school. Although the Internet makes it much easier than it used to be, students often complain that they never have enough time to read the newspaper or peruse headlines. Unfortunately, in today’s uncertain times, it’s important that students live outside of the “college bubble.”
Help your student stay abreast of community, national and world events by:
5. Clipping interesting stories from your hometown paper and sending them to your student every few weeks. Pick out stories that relate to his interests, add your own commentary and send them along. Your student will appreciate being kept in the loop about hometown happenings!
4. Sending out an email with selected clips each week. This is easier than you think. All you need to do is complete a quick search on the Internet for the top news stories of the week. Then, you can either scan the articles briefly and provide a quick synopsis with the link to the full story or just include the headline with the link. Put 3-4 stories in one email and send it along for your student to read on his own time.
3. Watching a weekly TV news show together—from afar. Select a show that fits your preferences and then make plans to watch it together each week. After the show, talk with each other via phone to share your perspectives and thoughts. If you can’t do this weekly, consider watching important shows related to the upcoming Presidential campaign.
2. Tuning in to NPR. You can even do this via podcast, which would probably work even better for your student. Select several podcasts together, download them and listen, and then share your thoughts and ideas with one another.
1. Hosting a conversation dinner. Invite your student and several of her peers into your home for a home cooked meal and conversation about a global issue. Make this a formal occasion. Just be sure to pick a topic that won’t get too heated! If you aren’t close enough to make this happen, help your student organize a dinner to happen on campus. Send food her way (or pay for her to order in from a local restaurant). Suggest some conversation starters and let the dialogue begin!
A Global Resource
Encourage your student to bookmark the Global Incident Map on her computer. This interesting (albeit somewhat scary) resource, located at www.globalincidentmap.com/home.php, is an easy way to check out world happenings related to terrorism and other suspicious activities, moment by moment.