Black Adolescents and the News

For many years a major goal of American education has been that of producing participating citizens in a democratic society. An important requirement for such participation is citizen of contemporary happenings and skills that enable them to interpret and evaluate mass media. The subject areas within the curriculum generally given responsibility for this task are social studies and, to a lesser degree, English. The 1979 Revision of the National Council for the Social Studies Curriculum Guidelines advocated a social studies program that focuses on the social world and its flaws, strengths, dangers, and promise. The guidelines in their position on desirable for students emphasized knowledge about the real world. They also recommended a program containing some balance between the immediate social environment of students and the larger social world; between small group and public issues; among local, national and global affairs.' Such a position mandates that students make use of the news media at the local, state, national, and global levels. To achieve the objectives devised to make students knowledgeable about the world in which they live, millions of dollars and considerable classroom time and effort are spent annually in the teaching of current events. In view of such effort, it is puzzling why so little has been done to evaluate students' of current events and to determine how they acquire such information. Limited studies have been made of students' general of major leaders and contemporary problems but virtually none exists

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