Modern history is more than just names, dates, and history books. It’s a gateway to understanding how our world came to be, from the events of the 20th century to modern day challenges.
For teens, the study of modern history brings relevance and excitement to their education. Below, we’ll explore five key benefits, blending historical events with real-world applications.
1. Understanding Current Events
Studying modern history offers teens a compelling look at the roots of today’s social conflicts and global trends. For instance, in 2024, a major story in the United States has been university campus protests assisting Israel in its attack on Gaza.
As news broke of the US intelligence community spying on student protestors, an oft-forgotten fact was that the spying was carried out primarily by the The National Counterterrorism Center — an office that was created in 2004 as a part of the restructuring of US intelligence carried out as a response to the intelligence failures of 9/11.
Understanding this can help students better contextualize both history and current events, as well as understand the implications of policy recommendations that are put forth in their lifetimes.
2. Developing Critical Thinking
In today’s media-saturated world, your student will be told many things: facts, opinions, rumors, and a whole lot of things that are totally irrelevant to anything meaningful. A proper history education will provide students with a path to dig into primary sources, so they can understand the decisions that changed the course of history.
For instance, students who study COVID-19 can look back at decisions such as mask mandates and vaccine passports with the benefit of hindsight, and with primary sources that allow for a data-driven approach. A proper history education thus allows students to develop critical thinking skills, which will prepare them for the times they face tough decisions in their own personal lives and in their role as citizens in a national or global community.
3. Improving Literacy and Communication Skills
History education often involves heavy doses of two treatments: reading and writing. The curriculums offered here on Pallas Center, for instance, includes many readings — often upwards of 60 or even 80 — as well as a final writing assignment to help students develop their ability to think critically.
In this way, studying history not only provides a valuable understand of past events and their connection to the present, but also helps students develop strong verbal skills. Excellent communication skills are valuable regardless of what path your student heads down as he/she grows into an adult.
4. Inspiring Active Citizenship
Understanding the events of the 20th century is especially useful for today’s teenagers as it is closer to their lived experience — and thus more likely to be something capable of inspiring them to be active, engaged citizens. For instance, while students may have been in their early childhood years during the peak moments of the COVID-19 pandemic, they likely remember some of the experiences they lived through.
These memories make it easier for them to learn about other aspects of COVID-19, as they already have an “anchor” to build their knowledge base from. In doing so, students are more likely to be engaged with the course, and to become active citizens capable of applying what they have learned into politically informed behaviors.
5. Fueling a Lifelong Love of Learning
When taught properly, history sparks curiosity: it is an endless rabbit hole, and one his forever a student in the domain of history. A proper history course can nudge students down this rabbit hole. For instance, a course on the Obama administration could easily send a student down a path of learning about the history of race relations in the US, which can help them more broadly learn about 20th century American history as well familiarize themselves with the writings of numerous academics and Pulitzer Prize winners.
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