Remember in the golden past when you picked up a pen and wrote a letter about your concern or problem to a Member of Parliament, or the Sierra Club or even Green Peace? Chances are, these days if you were to hand a pen to a 20 something or younger, they would not know what to do with it. Good penmanship, I am sad to say, is considered archaic in today’s society. Many teenagers today cannot read a letter from their grandmother, even if her penmanship is beautiful. So if you did use your finest penmanship writing to your Member of Parliament, chances are the young office administrator might not be able to read it. Scary, isn’t it!
In these days of texting and email, what is a responsible citizen to do? Young people rely heavily on Social Media as their mode of communication. They may not go to the voting booths, but their opinion is just a click away. They prefer to focus on individual issues, not a party platform that often tends to disappoint. They have instant communication with thousands of people to get their voice heard. We can learn something here. There are many online campaigning / petition sites that are office chair friendly and easy to access. In fact, you can create your own petition on many of these. Here are a few popular ones:
- Avaaz.org - One of a few that actually go to political powers to bring social or political change
- Change.org - Tends to address and unite supporters, but is politically neutral so it raises public awareness, but not necessarily influences or pressures those who hold power
- MoveOn.org - Very involved in American politics. It calls itself, "Democracy in Action"
- Meetup.com - I know what you're thinking; "I don't want a dating site". But wait a moment, this, in fact, this is for people who share interests such as spirituality, astronomy, small businesses, the environment, golf, video games, mountain biking just to name a few, and want to get together and form a local club or group.
- Care2.com/petitions - They offer a lot on this site so make sure you click on “Petitions”
- Facebook has a section called “Causes” - used to organize fundraising. Caution: some causes here are non-researched and may use naive sources. Remember that adolescents and teenagers use these sites too.
- Twitter has ACT.LY - users can create their own petitions with a few clicks. Use caution here or you may be "twitterpated". Again, popular with young people whose interests are media-based.
If you are interested in more, check out these web-sites.
http://www.goodnet.org/articles/644
and
Do you want to raise a concern that needs more public awareness?
Maria Kordas-Fraser
CSJ Associate