The government shut down! What’s going to happen? Will people still get food stamps? What about my grandparents, will they still get social security? How will this effect me?

With the recent government shut down these are some question you may be asking. As teenagers trying to learn about the politics of our government, sometimes its hard to get a straight answer.

The honest answer is it will take some time before we feel the effects of the shutdown.

The main group of people who will feel the effects of the government shutdown right away are people who rely on government assistance and government workers.

Some of the things effected are

• Food Stamps and other government aid
• Social Security
• National parks
• Other government workers

A common misconception is that all military and other national protection will be shut down, which is untrue. The military and other governmental protection agencies will still function, the workers may just get payed a little differently or the payment may be delayed.

One of the questions you may be asking yourself is, “if it doesn’t directly affect me, why should I care?”

“There are two reasons it is important for students to understand the government shutdown.  First, it sheds light on the structure of government and the system of checks and balances.  Second, it also forces students to understand the hard decisions politicians will need to make in the coming years and consider their own priorities for America,” history teacher Mr. Sommers states.

ODA students should use this shutdown as a learning experiences. Besides just learning about how our system works, it is important that we learn from this time of financiall and governmental trouble.

The question was posed to Mr.Sommer: What should students learn from the shutdown?

“As a historian, I am better at answering this question after the fact!  I think students should learn that they can be a part of changing the tone in this country from one of conflict to one of compromise.”

As a school, it is important for us to take this opportunity to not only learn what the shut down is but also how we as future historians can use this to change the way we view our government.