By Raeley Goebel, Flyer staff writer

Wake up, American teenagers. Even if you’ve been sleeping, Instagramming, or Pokemon-Go-ing through the last 18 months of presidential campaigning, there’s just enough time for you to get up to speed. The election is November 8, and you SHOULD care about this election. No, it is not irrelevant to you because you may be too young to vote. And yes, the decision that American makes in the next few weeks will follow you throughout college and into “the real world.”

I find it quite ironic that we teenagers want so much freedom without responsibility, and adult respect without being held to adult standards. As opinionated as we can get about “Brangelina”’s divorce or the death of a zoo gorilla, we have no excuse to not have opinions on issues that will actually affect our daily lives and potentially, the world. And it’s really not above our level of understanding, either. Spend a little time watching the news or reading the paper, and pretty much anyone can get the gist of today’s dumbed down politics.

Get out of your comfy little bubble and educate yourself. Put that rebellious nature of yours to good use. Don’t be a mindless sheep, because that’s exactly what they want you to be.