“Unless someone like you cares a whole
awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not.” ~Dr. Seuss
After viewing Kony 2012 where do you stand. Is this type of awareness campaign effective, necessary, helpful? Is it creating activists or Slactivists?
Take a look at some opposing view points on the New York Times site, Room for Debate and Invisible Children's response to the criticisms that arose after the video went viral.
Every day you sit in a classroom and learn about world events that range from the inspring to the horrific. What should we do with this knowledge? Do we have a respnsibility to act or is simply being aware enough? Where do we go from here....
Reply here.
The point of a campaign like this is not to focus on ourselves or the supporters but the main objective of the campaign--stopping Kony before the year ends. It tries my patience to think that we would be so selfish as to distract ourselves with the effect it has on us; I think that the workers of invisible children feel this insult that the media and critics have given them. With its many potential avenues for support, Invisible Children does not advocate "slactivism." Providing an easier way to support is skillful tactic of drawing the financial need presented in the Kony 2012 video. No one can honestly blame them for the already present trend of "slactivism" in American society. In fact, it is extremely difficult to defend any malicious doubts sown about Invisible Children after providing honest statements on finances and mission. The only minds not at peace should be the ones subject to the people choosing not support this campaign or choosing to sling mud on a good cause.
ReplyDeleteSorry for any accusations. I feel strongly about this.
I think they have the right cause at heart, but i disagree with their avenue in which they try to convey this. I believe that awarness should be raised, but this goes back to the packet we read in the beginning of the week. Sometimes we just need to step back and let Africa heal Africa and not continuly take up "The WHite Man's Burden" I also am extremely upset with the man including his son it the Kony2012 video. You should not be bringing family to something so potentially contrversial and especially not such a young child, who is to young to understand the implications of what is going on and if he himself would agree with the tactics of Invisible Children. He should not have included such a young and impressionable mind into something so large. Invisible Children has the right intentions at heart, the merely fail to use tact to accomplish this goal and as a result seem foolish and childish.
DeleteChris, I like what you say about how the man brought in his child. People who are too young to understand what is going on should not be told what is going on. If you can't tell them the whole story, they shouldn't hear any part of it. I agree that he should not have told his son because he's not allowing his son to understand the whole story and he is not allowing his son to make his own opinions.
DeleteAlthough I remain skeptical about my support and the actions of the organization "Invisible Children," I strongly support increasing awareness about Kony and the LRA. There is no way to stop this attack on children if people don't know or care about it. Inciting passion in people to put an end to the atrocities committed is not wrong, and that is the mission of Kony 2012. That said, Invisible Children should be more clear when fundraising at schools, etc about where your money goes. There is nothing wrong with using it to spread the word, but that purpose should be cleatly stated. In addition, I think it was wrong of people to only focus on the financials of this organization and completely forget its accomplishments. The man who started this had good intentions, and for people to put him down after he spent 9 years of his life trying to save others is wrong. I guarantee you that he has done more to improve our world than the people who criticize him.
ReplyDeleteI believe this post creates both Slactivists and activists. It creates slactivists because it tells people that all they have to do is post the video on their facebook. It, however, also creates activists because it allows people to go out and hang posters, wear bracelets, and raise money to stop Kony. I believe their intentions are good and I believe that thier use of the funds is not offensive at all. They need money to campain and they need money to get others to fundraise. I don't think this should be an issue. You need to spend money to get more money. This campaign is effective for a small group of people. I don't like it because they only "covered the night" in big cities. This eliminates people in small town areas because I don't believe there are people who would do this by themselves (although there might be somewhere).
ReplyDeleteI think that the campaign to stop Kony is a good thing and it should not be looked down upon or judged, but I also think that, like everything else, it can be uneffective to some.
I think that the movie was a helpful way to creat awareness in the population. Eventhough they made money off of that movie they still raised money to help get Kony caputured. Not many people can afford to do all that work and make a movies without any compensation. I think the creater of the movie had good intentions when he decided to make Kony 2012 popular. The thing I dont like about the campaign is that at the end of 2012 they will stop. To me it seems like we would be giving up on capturing Kony and he would win. Why put so much effort into trying to catch him for only a year then just stop because you didnt make your deadline? That just seems like we area llowing Kony to control the people in Africa.
ReplyDeleteWhile this video was in good thought I think they went about it the wrong way. Telling people that posting a video will stop Kony is not the truth. I respect Invisible Children but the year is almost done and still Kony has not been caught. Kony has been hiding for many years and to think that just posting a video in one year with allow people to catch his is a little over-the-top. There has to been planning that and that could be done in one year. Then the following year you coyuld start to caught him but to do everything in one year is very unlikly. Again while it was in good thoughts I do not think it is going to do much. "Slactivism" was created here because people can now post videos and say that they are really helping to catch Kony but the same people who say that never get out and really do anything to help. They assume that if they hand out money then their job is done. But to truly stop Kony we need people out there to help fight and catch him not just throw money away and if/when Kony is caught brag that they played a huge role in helping catch him. To get Kony people need to be active not click like on a video.
ReplyDeleteThis campaign raised awareness of the issues going on in Africa right now. However, they over simplified the matter by stating that it will only take a year to catch Kony if we all participate. In reality catching Kony is a very difficult task, he is hiding and he is mobile. Even though I understand that Invisible Children is trying to motivate people by assigning a deadline, the issue is too complex to have an end date. The oversimplification of the issue causes most supporters of the cause to be slactivists. Although,spreading the video will help raise awareness it will ultimatley not help. Giving money may help the people being terrorized in Africa but it will not help catch Joseph Kony. Even though I do not agree with everything in/about this video, I do think that the heart of the video sends a good message. It is very important for people to be aware. Awareness leads to action. The United States government uses the word genocide very sparingly, to get action the people of the world must show strong oppositing to these crimes against humanity.
ReplyDeleteOverall, I believe Invisible Children is an amazing organization that should be an inspiration. These men saw a problem and they did something about it. However, I do agree that they seemed to oversimplify things. As one article pointed out, shouldn't they be encouraging Ugandans to step up and fight? I can't deny that it's a good cause to support the fight against Kony, but is it really our place to say we will be the ones the stop him? It makes it sound like the Ugandan government and people are inept and that they need big America to come and save them. I think this propagates a false view of Africa that Africans are trying to fight against. I agree that Invisible Children has incredible courage and dedication to this cause, but I think they should have marketed more as "we need to help Ugandans stop Kony," instead of "America needs to stop Kony."
ReplyDeleteAs for what our responsibility is for issues like this, I'd say the biggest responsibility is to be aware. I agree that social media sites have created a type of "slactivism," but I'd argue that our youth are more aware of topics because of social media sites. I think our responsibility is to go past what you see on a site and create an opinion for yourself. It's easy to re-post something and feel good about it, but I think you should fully understand what you're posting before you do.
I think a campaign like this is definitely effective in the sense of bringing awareness; however, I feel likeit isn't effective in the sense that it doesn't encourage people to do anything except for donate money. Although it did bring the issue up with the U.S. government, I think that more has to be done. I think that the campaing creates/created both slacktivists and activists. Like I said, the people who brought awareness were definitely activists, and the people in the government, in my opinion, are activists as well. They did something other than just give money. I feel like the people who are now getting involved with the program/campaign don't have as much impact on the program, and all they are being encouraged to do is buy an action kit. I also believe that the awareness campaign was necessary because the awareness of this issue around the world was miniscule. While the awareness campaign was necessary, it was only sem-effective. Yes, people now know about the LRA and Joseoh Kony, but they don't know what they can actually do about it other than buy an action kit.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to the knowledge we acquire in school about worldly issues ranging form the inspiring to the horrific, I think we should make sure people are informed. I don't necessarily know if I believe people have an obligation to take action because certain issues should be dealt with carefully. When we intrude on foreign affairs, I feel like, at times, that country has become reliant upon us; the same goes with people. While taking action on things like genocide is something I see as a good thing, I believe that educating others is the most crucial step. Good decisions can not be made without adequate information. The next logical step, to me, is to formulate an effective plan, not just sit around and talk about our goals. This happens often when a group of people feel passionate about something, but they don't know where to start. Formulating an effective plan, executing it, as well as giving other people easy ways to get involved and make a difference is the way we have to move forward. Without giving people a simple way to participate, a plan for change often times becomes inefficient and uneffetive.
Basically, I think we should look at the methods and decide whether or not it's working. At first glance, the answer is no, because Kony is still at large. But, the campaign did make some smaller victories. Getting Washington to agree to send military advisors is an achivement in and of itself. Add to that the early-warning radio system, and one can see that improvements have been made. The situation is better, but is better good enough? I think the problem we all face is that we don't really comprehend the magnitude of the issue. Capturing Kony seems simple on paper, but in practice there are any number of obstacles, some we would never even think of. Basically, if there's more we can do, let's do it.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, Invisible Children has a good mission, but not necessarily taking the correct track on getting there. For instance, Angelo Izama (a journalist from Uganda) states that " 'Kony 2012' leaves a false impression that there is a war going on in Norther Uganda - there isn't." Furthermore, Izama goes on to say, "It draws attention away from other issues, like disease and unemployment." Yet another thing Angelo says against Kony is that it furthers "white man's burden - which angers Africans." Izama has some very good points. One; if "kony 2012" is putting forth inaccurate information regarding a war to gain attention for its cause, can it be trusted? Secondly; there are more than one issue hurting Africans like he says. Granted there are other aid organizations that deal with these things, if kony 2012 steals the limelight those other groups with less publicity may not do as well. Thirdly; Izama states that groups like "kony 2012" further "white man's burden". This "burden" is our feeling to help out Africa, usually without considering or asking exactly what Africa needs help with in the first place (angering Africans, like he said). While making our concious clear, since we helped out people in need, it may not have been what Africans really needed. For those reasons I believe that even though "kony 2012" has good intentions, it would not be my aid organization of choice.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really touchy subject with some people and they can get very worked up about it. I cant say i have a solution to how we should handle the thuings that are happening in Africa, part of me says that we shout tell everyone about it and do something like Kony 2012 but part of me believes that doing that is just not agood way to get the information out. some people might use this as a publisity stunt and just use it to make them famous but people really care. The problenm is that sometimes you cant tell the different between the two. I believe the way to let people know what is going on is somewhere in the middle of doing nothing and doing something. It also shouldnt be the job of just the citizen, if this was happening in the US, we would be all over it but since its in Africa it seems like the government just doesnt care. It's our duty as humans to help other humans. If we dont stand together, we will fall apart. I cant believe that the US only cares if it has to do with our homeland. How would they feel if their kids were taken and used as soldiers to fight an war that they have nothing to do with them. I believe that the government needs to do more for the poor children in Africa, not because it benifits us but because it will help another.
ReplyDeleteI think that what Invisible Children is doing to stop Kony is very helpful. It may be creating lots of slactivists but it still inspires many dedicated activists. Any help that is given would be gladly accepted. I think that being aware may be enough but we should also try to help out the cause.
ReplyDeletewhile i feel strongly that as an international human community we should support one an other i feel that Americans overstep themselves. Africa needs to heal its self from the inside out. while we can offer support to them if they want it or need it, we need to remember that this continent is not a child whos hand needs to be held. supporting them and saving them are two very different things and we need to remember this.
ReplyDeleteAs for Invisible children, i am glad they feel comfortable showing business documents with the genral public, and i feel that not all of the critism they recieve is just, i cannot abide the emotional appeals and appeals to ignorance he makes. if you seek to bring awareness, provide facts. Using your own son in a video like this is wrong to me.its not something at his age this boy was ready or able to understand. and i feel that doing what he did , it made him less credible. it made it seem as if he only had the emotional side covered. facts get things done right.
I personally feel the Invisible children debate could go either way. While it helps create awareness and tried to have people get involved, there are still those points made in the ny times from the actual people who come from africa stating the obvious geographical errors, and the amount of wars that arent really happening as of this moment in africa. as i watched it, i like many, wanted to do something to help, and to take part in the invisible children movement. but what did i do? i posted the video to help raise awareness "to make kony visable", did it help? maybe, but even so, the year deadline to catch kony was almost impossible due to the fact that this man has been hiding for more than 20 years, and as it approaches at an incredible rate, i feel as though the invisible corperation hasnt lived up to what they promised. but hey, thats just me...
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