Musings on a Generation

By Jessica Vetter……………………… Tweet
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Out of curiosity, I went around my college campus and asked students to tell me what they knew about the United Nations. I chose people based on arbitrary factors – I had class with that girl before, I liked the color of his coat. Some were friends, some were acquaintances, most were strangers. The people I informally interviewed were from all areas of study.

The general consensus was that while everyone could identify the basic premise of the United Nations, no one could tell me any specifics – where the U.N. is involved, what issues it focuses on, or even its history.

My generation is the most plugged in and the least knowledgeable. But it makes sense – we’re on media overload! With a smart phone on a data network, I have access to the internet at any time in any place. And I know when I have a spare moment between classes, work, meetings, volunteering, homework, rehearsal and sleep, I’m much more likely to open up the Doodle Jump application on my phone than NPR or BBC News.

Now, more than ever, it’s my generation’s turn to step it up. We have no excuse to not be informed – the U.N. is on major social media websites such as Facebook, Youtube, and even Twitter in order to reach out to us!

This semester, through my blogs for the Iowa United Nations Association, I plan to explore these issues and possible solutions, as well as whatever strikes me as important and relevant. But for now, the foremost issue is:

How do we make people care?