Health & Fitness
A SHOREWOOD PERSPECTIVE: A War Criminal Targeted by Teenagers
Students head on the revolutionary path at Shorewood when the recently posted Kony2012 video was posted to Youtube earlier this month.
Editor's note: is a Shorewood High School student journalist for the school newspaper, The Kolus. She will be writing regular dispatches for Patch.
On March 5 a video was posted on YouTube by the Invisible Children filmmaker Jason Russell, and the creator of the 'Kony 2012' video. The next day it reached millions of views and grew in popularity. Particularly among Shorewood students.
The video focuses on child soldiers in Uganda who were abuducted and led by the war criminal Joseph Kony. It promotes the global 'Kony 2012' campaign to bring the number one criminal on the International Criminal Courts list of criminals to arrest. The message overall really inspired and encouraged youth to stand up and fight for something.
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I think that's why the video went so viral. Usually America's youth (or teenagers in general) are depicted as lazy and unmotivated. The video had a plan: to stop Kony, spread awareness, and all unite and get Kony behind bars before the end of this year. Invisible Children pleaded with the U.S. government to help assist in the capture of Kony. They were reluctant but Obama sent in a 100 troops to Uganda anyway.
That was our call of action and spread awareness. We felt empowered and soon all social networking sites flooded with shares linking to the video.
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Fully backing the cause students, including me, forgot to step back and take a look at the big picture. There were many flaws in the video. In the middle of the documentary it goes off track of the campaign and self-promotes charity and building projects that have nothing to do with Kony.
Skeptics have brought to my attention questions that I didn't ask myself. Currently, it is a hot topic at the school and being discuessed by staff, students as well as parents. Ideas have been presented into clubs such as our Amnesty International and our Black Student Union (BSU). Amnesty International is going to hold a forum with students to research this organization more thoroughly and discuss what should be done.
Despite the muddled, outdated information the video provides, it has a good message to its impressionable audience is that no matter how young we can all make a difference. Regardless of the skepticism, many students have achieved what was asked of them and raised awareness of millions.
