Sinéad Baker | Deputy Online Editor
Students are often branded as ‘ignorant’ about events that affect them and the rest of the world, yet it’s difficult to reconcile this with the image that sees students as well connected and, in theory, well educated. Put simply, in a world with everything from The Journal to The Daily Mail to Reddit, it’s almost impossible to know nothing about current affairs, whether they’re happening up the road in the Dáil, or over in the Middle East.
Maybe what students can be criticised for is a wide range of knowledge that doesn’t go very deep. Most of us know that there’s a civil war in Syria, that there’s a siege going on in a shopping centre in Kenya, and that student hardship levels are continuing to rise. But how many of us can say that we’re truly knowledgeable or passionate about these issues; that we’ve moved past the headlines to fully research and have an educated opinion on them? Unfortunately, aggressive Facebook statuses rarely count. It seems unlikely that many of us have truly been monitoring even the issues close to home, such as the debate on the Seanad or the development of the campaign to impeach our Student Union President, Tom Lenihan.
A bombing in Boston will get more coverage than an earthquake in Pakistan, and not getting a locker will, for most, result in more angry tweets than any development in Syria.
But we need to remember that this is true of almost every citizen across the county, regardless of whether or not you’re a ‘lazy’ student or self-important businessman. We, as an entire race, focus on the issues closer to home, and with an influx of information on the internet it’s easy to become desensitised. Like it or not, a bombing in Boston will get more coverage than an earthquake in Pakistan, and not getting a locker will, for most, result in more angry tweets than any development in Syria.
Some may say that students are branded as idealistic, that we should be the ones who ussher in a new era of social change. But it’s really difficult to see that happening. Like it or not, students are people too and proportionately just as many of us are as self-involved as in the rest of the country. But the question is raised, what should we care about?
To avoid a depressing dip into absolute cynicism, let’s take a look at the validity of tackling issues close to home. A recent example taking place on our own campus is the referendum on the Seanad, in which we are asked whether or not we want to support Seanad reform. Each campaign team has been given €200 to get their ideas out there and convince us which way to vote. Many students are deeply questioning the point of this referendum, doubting the influence of our Student’s Union on our government and citing the apathy of our students. You can argue that we are a body strong body of nearly 12,000 voters (hopefully), and a cry for reform that is not being formally considered yet by the government cannot go amiss. In the past we’ve made some great progress championing social change, such as the 2004 referendum that banned the sale of Nestle products in Student’s Union shops. Yes, this decision won’t affect the world, or even Nestle, but will make a small difference close to home, where our opinions are listened to and appreciated. But we can’t take such a stance on every issue.
When putting together our collective youthful energy and drive, can actually make a difference, at least on our campus.
Following this theory it seems that students, when putting together our collective youthful energy and drive, can actually make a difference, at least on our campus. And it would continue to seem this way if we didn’t take a look at some of our previous failed efforts to find motivation to do vital things for ourselves and other struggling students; such as save the grant and cut the student contribution charge. Simply put, we’re apathetic. We criticize our local and national unions without knowing what they’re really doing, refuse to show our anger to those who can change anything and vote on the issues that directly affect us. Many of us don’t even vote in the referendums which I so highly praised earlier.
So the broader question is raised; should students care more about issues, both wider issues and those that affect them everyday? It’s easy to say that, as individuals in a society, of course we should. As members of the human race we should be more concerned with what’s happening around us, and with our fellow man. But we don’t. So should we combine our menial knowledge and use our power as a body of students, mandating our officers to throw in support with every cause that arises? Of course it sounds like the right thing to do, but it’s worth is debatable.
Let’s start to care about the issues that we can make a difference on first
Some may say it could be worth it to fight for all issues just for the principle alone. For example, it’s great to think that we can mandate our officers to officially throw in support with students in the Middle East, but realistically it’s difficult to see how this could ever make a difference. A similar issue was raised last year at the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) National Congress in 2013. The motion was put forward to mandate a USI officer to raise the issue of ‘Continued Discrimination against Arab-Palestinian Students’ with the European Student’s Union, with a majority of 2/3 needed to pass. It did. “Great,” you say, as it’s difficult to see any harm that can may come from this development. But can any good really come from these motions? This motion was rightly met with resistance from all sides. The fact of the matter is that holding a referendum on a matter that we cannot directly help ends with us wasting our officers time and money; officers who have to spend their time trying to get us to do the right thing, not to mention the lack of effect it will have on any of these peoples lives. It can cost around €1,500 to run a referendum in Trinity, and thus it just simply doesn’t seem worth it for the few of us who vote to feel good about ourselves. It’s not right to get other people to care for us, on an issue about which they can make no difference.
Simply put, let’s start to care about the issues that we can make a difference on first. Students must accept that they cannot change the world, especially running on the limited knowledge we seek out. For the sake of us all, let’s keep passionate on the world’s issues as individuals, but as a body let’s actually start to care about our local issues first and keep any widespread official campaigning to the pros.
Photo by Samuel Riggs.
