Wake Up and Pay Attention
Emily MacIsaac // December 12, 2011
STOP!
Stand up. Look around. Be aware. Be curious. Be engaged. Get involved.
You may wonder where I’m going with this. These statements summarize the goals of some of the persuasive speeches presented in a public speaking class I recently finished. Fellow classmates chose topics that meant a lot to them, and persuaded the audience to care about their message.These speeches encouraged audience members to observe their surroundings, investigate, and think critically before making decisions. This is advice all of us should consider as global citizens.
There are numerous mainstream and alternative media outlets to explore and share. Now is a time when knowledge is accessible and easily shared. With the simple click of a button, endless information is at hand, helping us educate ourselves. Since the creation of tools like Google, the response “I don’t know” has been rendered obsolete.
Take a minute and ask yourself, “did I read the newspaper today?” Did you check the Canadian Press or Reuters websites recently? Better yet, have you read anyone’s blog or even watched Democracy Now’s daily podcast in the past week? Not only should PR students and practitioners be monitoring these outlets but we as citizens, as a society, should be engaged and informed.
With the click of a button I can find information on every political party platform before Election Day. In doing so I feel confident in casting my vote; in doing so, I become engaged and involved, and this is just one example of actively making the choice to do so.
If I added up all the time I spent texting each day, and spent an equivalent amount of time searching for news stories that didn’t necessarily make the headlines, I could be rich (in knowledge, at the very least). It’s time to go a step further. It’s time we stop relying on mainstream media to do all the work. Mainstream media is simply a platform from which we should build.
If you took a few moments each day to find one interesting article on a blog or alternative news source, think of how much you could learn in the span of a week. Think about what might happen if you share that article with a friend, and a friend shared it with another friend. Perhaps your friends would reciprocate and share a story with you. In becoming engaged with the world around you and participating in it with others, your knowledge grows almost effortlessly.
Here are three tidbits I learned in one day–in just fifteen minutes, to be exact:
1. Some argue the Israel occupation is a system of apartheid. Although this is a sensitive topic, it’s important to look at both the Israeli and the Palestinian side. To learn more from a Palestinian perspective about peace you can read I Shall Not Hate by Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish.
2. The hypersexualization of girls should not be happening, and is only getting worse. Yes, there’s a term for it. There’s also a Canadian documentary called “Sexy Inc.” if you’re interested in learning more.
3. There are 10,000 suspected or confirmed carcinogens in cosmetics and common household products. Don’t just inspect what goes into your body, but what you put on your body as well. It’s difficult to check every single ingredient on every product you buy, but thanks to the Environmental Working Group you can check over 69,000 common products.
These are only a fraction of the topics discussed in one public speaking class. There is so much more to be discovered. From now on I ask you to challenge yourself and those around you to learn and share one tidbit, one story with those around you. Once we’ve gotten hold of and understand important information, as in the examples above, we can become engaged and make informed choices. We can stand up for what we believe in.
So, what are you waiting for? Go try it! Get hungry for knowledge. You won’t be disappointed.