In this month’s issue, the Acumen is covering a variety of movements and trends within our school and featuring students who are passionate about these causes. However, this passion often seems contrary to the norm nowadays. It seems rare for students to take a stand for a certain issue and stay committed to it for an extended period of time. Due to the advent of Internet, the news cycle is being accelerated and this idea of instant gratification is resulting in shorter attention spans. Once we are drawn toward the newest breaking news story, our attention is diverged to the next headlining story in a matter of moments. Our generation is quick to blindly accept what we hear from the news. Although the media is just doing its job to keep us informed on current events, it is crucial for students to find an issue that they truly care about and stay devoted to it.

For example, just look to the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA) movements. These two pieces of legislation regarded online censorship and free speech rights and caused an uproar in the online community. On January 18, 2012, Wikipedia, Reddit, and around 7,000 other websites blacked out their websites to protest against these bills, and Google collected over 7 million signatures for a petition on its website. However, after Congress put the legislation on hold, the movement quickly died down, even as similar legislation, such as Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) remains at large. ACTA also is concerned with the same ideas of online censorship, but has not garnered the same level of opposition as the previous bills did. The fact that the media has not covered it as comprehensively has resulted in less attention toward the bill. If people were truly passionate about promoting free speech rights, it would make sense for them to continue protesting against ACTA. But as the trendiness and media attention faded away, the widespread support disappeared.

Also, environmentalism has suffered the same fate recently. A few years ago, the idea of helping the environment and being “green” was a movement that was taking the entire nation by storm. This was evident in Carmel, shown by the large push for environmentally concerned efforts and creation of Environmental Club at our school. During the 2008 presidential election, environmental and energy issues played prominent roles and were key parts of President Obama’s campaign platform. However, the environment has shifted towards a secondary role in the upcoming presidential elections, due to the importance of the economic issues at stake. Also, last month, Time Magazine reported that according to surveys published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, the millennial generation is less concerned about the environment than previous generations. The idea of environmentalism lost its novelty and appeal to the general public, leading to its decline.

Another cause that has diminished is aiding Haiti after the tragic earthquake that demolished the country. When an earthquake of magnitude 7.0 hit Haiti on January 12, 2011, the event created concern and a widespread response from the world. Even many celebrities pledged to donate millions of dollars. However, an Oxfam report from January 2012 stated that half a million Haitian people remain homeless and are still living under tarps and in tents. After the media coverage ended, the response from the public abated.

Similar attitudes are mirrored at our own school through student involvement in extracurricular activities. At the beginning of the year, students appear to be extremely enthusiastic about joining clubs and are actively contributing. But as the year progresses, due to greater workloads and as well as apathy, attendance shrinks and participation diminishes at an overwhelming amount of clubs. This occurrence is extremely noticeable in seniors, especially second semester, when most are ready to graduate already. To combat these problems, students should discover their true interests and honor their commitments. It may seem easy to just follow the status quo and jump on the bandwagon with everyone else, but hopping from trend to trend is an inefficient way of being an activist. Taking the time to find causes that you sincerely support is a rewarding and worthwhile use of one’s time. Also, the saying “quality over quantity” applies to this situation. Instead of joining a multitude of clubs for the sake of writing it on a college application, students should join a select few groups and stay consistently involved.

While following the news is beneficial, students should remember that the media and trends should not dictate what issues you support. Use the media as a tool to gather information, but proceed with caution. Choose the causes you care about wisely, and stick with them.