On March 5, 2012 a video known as “Kony 2012” was released to many social media sites including, Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr, and overnight it instantly became a viral sensation.

“Kony 2012” is a documentary video created and directed by Jason Russell, the co-founder of Invisible Children, Inc. While Russell appeared to have a heart of gold, his recent run-in with the San Diego police has many questioning his true intentions for the Invisible Children charity.

On March 15, only ten days after the “Kony 2012” video was released, Russell was detained by San Diego police for vandalizing cars and making sexual references and gestures.

The Invisible Children Organization released a brief statement stating that Russell “was exhausted in the wake of the emotional toll of the media storm around Kony 2012.”

According to the family statement Russell suffered from, “brief reactive psychosis” which was brought on by extreme exhaustion, stress, and dehydration.

While Kony’s acts are incredibly heinous and should be stopped, many people, after watching this video, are left wondering why this issue is just now being brought up as opposed to 30 years ago.

When the video was released on March 5, numerous Briar Woods Students took to the social media like Twitter and Tumblr to spread the word about the “Invisible Children” movement and to “make Kony famous.”

At first the majority of students were all in favor for supporting this noble cause but due to recent events, many students are now being forced to take a hard look at the legitimacy of the “Kony 2012” movement.

When asked, the majority of students all had the same opinion regarding the “Kony 2012” movement. The students believed there was an issue in Uganda and it should be resolved but they were wary about the charity.

When questioned as to why they were wary about the charity, most responded with answers regarding Russell being detained by the police. But why was this the first red flag for most students?

“I think the whole ‘Invisible Children’ thing is very sketchy and people, especially teenagers should be very careful,” said Taylor Loeber, sophomore.

Loeber believes that teenagers especially ones in middle school and high school are way more susceptible to scams than adults are. “I think that all you have to do is make a nice, flashy video about a worthy cause and put it up on any social media website, and teenagers will just throw their money at you, whether or not your cause is legit,” When asked to elaborate on what she meant, Loeber replied that she thinks, “all teenagers are naïve and they will believe anything that is put on youtube.”

Does Loeber have a point? Are teenagers more susceptible to scams simply because they are young?

“I totally agree with Loeber; I mean the majority of people supporting the “Kony” thing were teenagers and I don’t think that’s any coincidence,” said Alicia Cassidy, sophomore. Cassidy said that when she showed her parents the video and talked to them about it that they had never heard of Joseph Kony, and didn’t want to just donate their money to a charity they didn’t have more information on.

“I think the Invisible Children’s plan is genius, their slogan is to “Make Kony Famous” so when kids tell their parents about Kony they’re obviously not going to know who he is which is just going to make the kids try to help more,” said Cassidy. “I think kids should do their research before they just donate their money to anyone who asks,” said Cassidy.

Before making your donation to Invisible Children Inc. please visit the following link and review the facts about the “Kony 2012 movement.

The “Kony 2012” video is a 30 minute documentary about the infamous LRA, the Lord’s Resistance Army, leader Joseph Kony. Kony and his army, the LRA, have been terrorizing the people of Uganda for over 30 years. The crimes Kony has committed over this long time period mainly consist of kidnapping thousands of young children and turning them into child soldiers.

http://www.invisiblechildren.com/critiques.html