Do students care?

Self-confessed activist Eileen Guo admits that whilst students are aware of global issues the OC usually beats saving the world on their list of priorities.

''And when our precious free time can be spent either watching The O.C and talking to our friends, or saving the world, friends and The O.C invariably come first.''

Do students care? It’s a question that I’ve often asked myself. As a student activist (or, at least, I like to think I am one) I’ve tried on numerous occasions to convince my fellow students to care about current events.

I once started a club, International Alliance, to try to get the students of my high school involved in international issues. I had a grand vision for the ‘IA’, as I affectionately dubbed it: we would have a pen-pal program; raise money for organisations such as Oxfam and the Red Cross; attend protests in Washington and New York; perform community service in developing nations; host international cultural days etc. But few people expressed serious interest. The few members that did come genuinely wanted to relieve the sufferings of people around the globe. Their interest, however, rarely translated into action.

So I found myself asking once again, do students care? At first, I thought that the answer was no. After getting over my cynicism I realised that this wasn’t the case.

After all, when the tsunami struck south Asia, our school raised thousands of dollars through simple fundraisers such as lollipop sales. Annually, our student government makes tens of thousands to benefit charities as diverse as Operation Smile and the Special Olympics. And recently, the entire student body signed a petition to Congress requesting more aid in the Darfur Crisis. So it seems that students do care.

But while this generation is concerned with issues like arms control and climate change and poverty, we are also more concerned with the concrete problems of daily life. And when our precious free time can be spent either watching The O.C and talking to our friends, or saving the world, friends and The O.C invariably come first.