At the risk of repeating myself once again: Information is power! And this should have become even clearer to everyone over the past weeks and months, given everything humanity has had to witness and endure.
Through my work, I have the opportunity to participate in many amazing projects that are 100% dedicated to helping young people. It’s an incredible feeling, and I am grateful every day to be able to call this my job. And when I talk to others about it, I get chills of joy and excitement—not only because I am convinced that we are the “good ones,” but also because I truly believe that we can make a humble contribution to the positive development of future generations.
All the more reason why I feel frustrated every time I see how little the press, across all its platforms, pays attention to our new products and services, or introduces them to its audience. After all, we provide a free service that everyone finds meaningful, and people would be happy if our message reached those it was intended for.
If this happened just once, it could be a coincidence. Twice? Bad luck! But when practically every organization systematically ignores or “boycotts” our efforts to properly inform young people, I start wondering if there’s more going on behind the scenes. But why does this bother me more today than usual?
Let’s take a look at how news has evolved on the internet in recent days and months…
Did you see the street where, supposedly, the “evil” refugees left everything filthy? Or the train where the “bad guys” threw food and drinks onto the tracks? Or the terrorists among the refugees attacking German police officers with flags? Yes?
But did you also know that this street was an illegal landfill in Debrecen from 2012? That the video of the train station showed a hunger strike? And that the attack on the police officers was carried out by Salafists on May 1, 2012? … And these are just a few examples!
There are people in this world who are simply evil and deliberately spread such misinformation. Then, there are those who fear, those who believe, those who share, and those who publish these falsehoods! And sometimes, I can almost understand why someone would publish such things—the more shocking, the more readers, the more ads! But just because I can understand it, does not mean I find it right!
And believe me, sometimes I feel like crying—truly crying—when I see young people on Facebook sharing these images and videos, often accompanied by deeply xenophobic comments. Crying because I feel like I need to do even more. And out of frustration when people refuse to support efforts to properly inform young people, to educate them so they don’t fall for such misinformation.
Today, we can all change this. We just need to want to. Over the past years, our high schools have made immense efforts, alongside their regular work, to collaborate with us in informing their students, and for that, I can only say thank you.
But even in your own circles, dear listeners and the press: help the younger generation learn how to handle information! Give them good and reliable information! Help them!
