Social Action Essay The world is full of social problems and controversies and there are always many

different people or groups of people that want to take part in solving or aiding these issues. These are called social actions. A social action is everything from helping the world reduce crime to reducing poverty to the arrest of Joseph Kony. It is anything that will help a group of people, change a political view or raise awareness for something. It is very important that these exist because the governments around the world cannot cope with the sheer amount of issues on the planet by themselves. That is where Social Action groups come in; in a sense they give aid to the government in raising awareness by creating campaigns or documentaries on local, national or global issues. The people involved often do it through volunteering and because they have a passion for positive change and like being involved. A few good examples of a social action would be Supersize Me This is a documentary where a man, Morgan Spurlock goes on a McDonalds binge for a month to raise awareness of the danger of regular fast food consumption. Also a National project called Mission Greenbelt where a small group aim to help improve the visual damage of cities and built up areas by planting more greenery around the city, E.g. The edge of pavements, walls and vacant lots. Social actions can be part of a local, national or global change.

A local example is a group called Change begins with me It is raising awareness and trying to reduce gun crime in a particular small community in America. They want people to come together to remove the stereotype that all black people in the community are dangerous. An example of national issue is fly tipping, Too much litter is being discarded in the bushes and landscapes and there are many different groups that are fighting against it and making posters, banners and fliers to try and encourage people not to litter. An example of a global change is what I go on to look at further, Kony (2012). A social action can do many different things mainly they are to raise awareness by giving out information on any given issue and through this information people will change their voting behaviour, change attitudes towards the issues being talked about, usually the information will have a positive effect on someones opinion towards something and build relationships between communities by bringing them together to work and socialise. If a social action gets the success and awareness/support that they wanted then they can start a campaign, this can take the group to new heights and increase the success of the cause. They can combat the misuse of stereotypes and racism, give information on the clouded areas of society and make people realize that the issues are in serious need of taking care of. Documentaries are important because they have a huge effect on how many people become aware of various situations from around the globe. A really serious problem that is unknown about (Kony 2012) can become a global campaign very very quickly if it is

filmed, turned into a documentary and then either released on TV or put onto YouTube because it will have millions of people as its audience around the world. At the same time various generations will see these documentaries and be encouraged to speak their opinions, start their own social action groups and start to help resolve those issues. However, there is such a thing as nontraditional groups, this means that there are issues in the far corners of the world in the smallest tribes and towns that although they may be really bad and need taking care of they just do not concern the rest of the world and they dont get noticed. This is a bad thing but unfortunately nothing can really be done that will effect enough people. A good social action to look into is Invisible children: Kony 2012 because Joseph Kony and the lords resistance Army have been abducting, killing and moving children in east and central Africa since 1987. These atrocities were first noticed in northern Uganda in 2003 when they met a boy named Jacob who feared for his life and a woman named Jolly who had a vision for a better future. Invisible Children promised Jacob that they would do whatever they could to stop joseph Kony and the LRA. The goals are as follows We believe in the equal and inherent value of all human life, We believe that a worldview bound by borders is outdated and is the responsibility of all humanity everywhere, We believe that stopping the most extreme forms of injustice anywhere and is the responsibility of all humanity everywhere and we believe that stopping the most extreme forms of injustice anywhere and is the responsibility of all humanity everywhere. There is a huge need for change because the children in Africa should be able to say no and with the forceful nature of Joseph Kony and army they are not able to do so. It is a global change and the group Invisible Children are desperate to raise as much awareness as they possibly can and put a stop to what Kony is doing in Africa. They have mobilized huge groups of people to help and have manage to get members of the LRA to turn themselves in and surrender, campaigns have been launched to lower the numbers that Kony has at his side and help them to recover from the horrors he put them through. So far the campaign has managed to gain these social stats -3,729,825 people from 185 countries pledged their support for Kony 2012. - #STOPKONY was tweeted 1,200 times per minute at its peak. -The Kony 2012 film continues to get over 100,000 views per week on the internet. - The Kony 2012 film reached 100 million views in 6 days. Making it the fastest growing viral video in human history So the campaign has definitely had an effect and continues to do so, Invisible Children are still appealing to the ICC (International Criminal Courts) and the local governments to majorly crack down to have him arrested and tried for his crimes.

The second social action video that I would like to look at is Supersize me because it applies to most of the world. It was a documentary made to show the effects that fast food has on the average human body over period of a month. The test was done on Morgan Spurlock, He starred in, Directed and produced the feature length documentary. The test was over a month and Morgan had to eat McDonalds 3 times a day and had to consume everything on the menu at least once and had to order the supersize version of every meal. It is to raise awareness and make people realize what they are doing to their body. It is aimed at the American general public but has been distributed around the world and has made $30,000,000 due to its high success rate. It provides information on how fast food can affect the body and how real that danger is. The documentary had various impacts and reactions in the United Kingdom. McDonalds placed a brief ad in the trailers of showings of the film, pointing to the website www.supersizemethedebate.co.uk. The ads stated, See what we disagree with. See what we agree with. The film was also the inspiration for the BBC television series The Supesizers In which the presenters dine on historical meals and take medical tests to ascertain the impact on their health. The movie ends with a rhetorical question Who do you want to see go first, you or them? which is a thought provoking question and is the final push for the awareness of the issue. It is shown in schools during biology lessons, teaching staff and in universities all around the world because it is one of the best first hand examples of what fast food can do, its addictive purposes and horrible after effects. It is filmed in a way to make people realize and scare them into the danger and unattractiveness of what they are doing to themselves. I feel that both of the social actions discussed above are very important to the world yet completely incomparable, the invisible children groups is really useful and a much appreciated group, with many new members a month and very soon with the work that they are doing Joseph Kony will be arrested. The supersize me documentary is a good one to use in schools and give people the knowledge and understanding that fast food can ruin your life but still give them the opinion. If people feel guilty that they are harming themselves without realizing It then they should think twice after seeing supersize me.