Tag Archives: Kony 2012

Teens take action through internet phenomenon

By Bekah Landers and Jared Murray

A 30-minute Youtube video, tons of Twitter posts, posters, bracelets, buttons, election signs; the Kony 2012 movement is not only sweeping the nation but almost every country, thanks to word of mouth, internet posts, and celebrity promotions that reach from Oprah Winfrey to Justin Bieber.

The Invisible Children organization sponsers the KONY 2012 movement. Invisible Children is a California based non-profit organization that strives to inform the community about the stories from the African civilians in an attempt to end the longest running armed conflict in Africa. With the movement having exploded onto the internet and other media bases, some FC students are also attempting to get involved.

Junior Ted Hartog is one of those students who are trying to help raise awareness.

“The Invisible Children movement’s intentions are to send U.S. troops to aide the Ugandan army and we have yet to raise enough awareness,” said Hartog.
The movement will feature several events that intend to raise even more awareness. An upcoming event to raise awareness is called “Blanket the Night.” This will involve posting signs all over any local city on April 20. Another event is a dance marathon in late November. If one can not attend these events there are other options online readers can participate in to help the cause.
“Posting the video, tweeting #KONY2012, and visiting the website helps raise awareness,” said Hartog. “You can also buy the action kit online from the Kony 2012 website.”
With the rapid growth of this movement, criticism and controversy has arised. The Invisible Children budget plan has been heavily scrutinized, and the effectivness of the organization itself has been questioned. With the detainment of the creator of the Kony 2012 video new criticism and mocking of the Invisible Children has become more common than ever.
Despite the criticism circulating about the organization, Hartog offers advice on what to do when one makes a decision on which side of the story they believe.
“I think that anyone who supports should educate themselves on both sides. Don’t blindly follow one side of the facts,” said Hartog.
Senior Evan Pearce has a different view than Hartog.
“I don’t think America should be the world’s policemen. We’ve gone to many other countries for things like this and it never ends well,” said Pearce.
The internet has made this cause known, through a vast variety of tactics and approaches. Views on the internet takeover are differed.
“I think a lot of the people supporting it are really uneducated on the cause. Most of them don’t understand the problems our own country is going through. We’re in a huge economic recession with a skyrocketing debt and numerous social issues. The supporters are too busy worrying about problems in other countries to focus on the problem here,” said Pearce.
Needless to say, the views on the Kony 2012 movement differ. With legal allegations and a worrisome financial plan, the movement will give everyone a different view on helping out.
“America is not a perfect people or a perfect country, so it doesn’t make sense to me that we’re trying to help every other country besides ourselves,” said Pearce.

Students’ words do little for troubled

By Meghan Poff

In light of recent events, I’d find it correct to say there has been a sharp increase in the number of political/peace activist experts in the Floyd County area. It is almost meritorious how quickly local students seem to have caught world peace fever.

(*insert sarcasm here)

It all started last week when the tornado hit Henryville. The town, almost never before acknowledged by the students of our school, was suddenly thrust into the spotlight by the destruction that occurred there. Suddenly, it seemed that the only decently human thing to do would be to volunteer their time.

And apparently, the best way to help out Henryville was to get it trending on Twitter. I am not trying to insinuate that feeling sympathy for tornado victims is a bad thing, but I’m sure the people would appreciate a couple hours of cleaning up over “Omg this is so horrible #HelpHenryville.”

Yes indeed, Henryville was the talk of the town for about three whole days, until Kony arrived.

As we all know, knowledge of turmoil in Africa could never really exist in the minds of high school students until it was circulated on Facebook. But I must say I’m surprised at the number of people who had the attention span long enough to watch the 30-minute video, because you sure have never read a book for that long.

And if one is able to watch a video about troubles in Africa, then nothing is to stop them from becoming a diplomatic expert on the subject.

“Like, can you believe this Kony guy? Forreal though, the army needs to stop all this #AmericaIsDumb.”

How intelligent.

Though for many, problems abroad took a back seat to the troubles still occurring in Henryville. During the tornado, a mother, Reese Decker, lost her legs protecting her child. The hashtag #GiveReeseHope is an effort to get singer Justin Bieber to come meet the little girl.

Let me make sure I understand. Because Reese’s mom lost her legs, this girl for some reason needs to meet Justin Bieber? Hmmm, maybe if we really wanted to give Reese hope, people could donate money to help her mother with hospital bills. But that is just me being crazy.

When it comes to causes, there is nothing more important than positivity and enthusiasm, things that the members of our community are not lacking. But perhaps, we could double the impact of our good intentions by being a little informed about the issues we claim to care so deeply about. And as they say, actions speak louder than words. Try to get out of the virtual world to make a difference because frankly, a tweet or a status is not helping anybody.