I’ll be the first to admit that I’m a Jersey Shore addict. Every week I would tune in and watch the drama that unfolded in the house. I would hope that Vinny would finally go on a date with Ramona. I eagerly awaited the moment that Mike “the Situation” would realize that, every episode, he managed to get “grenades” in the hot tub. But most of all, I prayed that Snooki would find her perfect “gorilla juicehead.” To say the least, my life became a black hole when season two ended.

I was so desperate for my Thursday night GTL (Gym, Tan, Laundry) TV time I watched the news. Like, the actual news.

Anderson Cooper 360 made me realize how little I knew about the world around me. I am no different from the average high school student (at least I don’t think s0), so does that mean most students at MHS are as clueless as me?

To answer my question, I passed out a ten-question survey. I asked five current events questions and five pop culture questions. The results were clear.

On average, each student answered about 1.14 current events questions correctly; however, they were able to answer 3.91 popular culture questions correctly.

“It’s sad how we only know about pop culture instead of actual important government and military things going on,” says sophomore Alice Barnes.

Junior Evan Hafley agrees,  “People pay more attention to stuff that doesn’t matter than the important things.”

The quiz included questions about Operation New Dawn (the Iraqi war’s new moniker as of Sept. 1), who was recently elected Governor of Ohio (John Kasich), and who’s the current Secretary of State (Hillary Clinton).

For the most part, students could not answer those, but could list all eight members of the Jersey Shore house (Snooki, Pauly D, Vinny, Mike “the Situation,” Angelina, JWoWW, Sammi Sweetheart, Ronny) three of the top ten songs on iTunes (“Fireworks,” “Grenade,” “The Time”) and the name of the newest character on the FOX show Glee (Blain).

“Students should follow current events more because they are something that will end up affecting them in the future or change the way that they live,” says Hafley. “It is possible to balance political news with pop culture.”

Many students at MHS find themselves too busy to keep up with the news. Balancing jobs, sports, homework, and grades often leaves little time for television.

“I hardly have any time for myself between lacrosse and school,” says Barnes. “When I do have time to watch TV and nothing’s on, I watch the news. My family also talks about similar things at dinner, so I am lucky to get a little bit of a balance of news and pop culture.”

Personally, I’d much rather watch reality TV than following what is happening in the world. To me, it’s more entertaining and light-hearted. But the news is far more important than anything on Jersey Shore. It’s the world we live in, so to me it is important that we understand it.

“I understand students love pop culture because it doesn’t take as much brain power to understand,” says Barnes. “It’s not as deep as some of the rough things that are going on in the world right now. Instead of thinking about a soldier risking his life, we joke about Snooki at the Jersey Shore searching for the perfect gorilla juicehead.”