Response to Spanier's "Activism"

The article “Is Campus Activism Dead or Just Misguided” really opened me up to a whole new perspective of college students and how we spend our time. I always learned about the important protests of the 60’s and 70’s in history classes, but didn’t really read that much into it until now. Reading Spanier’s article made me realize how lazy college students can seem, for the most part. Spanier was completely right in saying that students tend to spend the majority of their time on Facebook, instead of standing up for a good cause, or getting involved with the community. I would say many students don’t even keep up with world affairs or read the newspaper, and I am including myself in this category. Just yesterday I was talking to my Aunt on the phone about something new related, and I had no idea what she was talking about. She then lectured me on why it’s important to be well rounded and keep up with topics in the paper and around the world. So this article came just at the right time. Thinking about it now, I would say that most if not all of my friends here at James Madison are slacking in the activism department, but it all seemed quite normal not to be pursuing such things. I really gave little to no thought about it. But it’s not just students today. I feel like the majority of Americans in general are not as well versed in worldly affairs as they used to be. I feel like this is a time when everyone should be trying harder to speak out against causes that interest them, especially in this time of economic downturn. This is definitely not the time for us not to worry. Spanier does make some great points, but I don’t think he should get so discouraged just yet.