u/Anonymous_032711

I am planning on using this speech in a speech and debate tournament, specifically as an original oratory.

I have felt, as a very young adult, that lately the world and the people I am surrounded by lack any awareness or empathy for the world issues surrounding us. I feel as though the fact that social media presents world tragedies while simultaneously feeding entertaining, funny, or relatable videos has caused individuals to become desensitized to what is going on around them. When someone I know is scrolling on TikTok, they could see a video of a child in war, begging for dead family members to come back, and scroll right past it to instead watch a video about the latest trending song, or new show. While I understand that in a way, that's just the way the internet is, I feel as though being fed entertaining, engagement videos while also hearing about violence, death, war, and horrific things that plague our world, has caused us as humans to be desensitized to the worlds issues. When we hear that another bombing has occurred, more frequent and worse heatwaves are taking the world by storm, we find it easy to simply brush it off and instead worry about when the next episode of our favorite series will come out. While I understand that the worlds issues aren't everyone else's problem, it hurts me as a young person to see how happy everyone else is to be ignorant. We find it simpler to ignore than to face what's going on. If it doesn't affect us, it's not our issue. And so on and so forth. We repeat these phrases in comfort, but in reality, these issues are much closer to us than we like to admit. While I understand that the average person can't just stop a war or end world hunger, I feel as though being aware of the situation is better than ignoring it. Having these difficult conversations, making other people aware or these issues, and trying to make an impact in ways that you CAN do, is something I believe our world needs.

However, when I have brought this up with others, people think I am asking them to give up their life savings for starving children, or go out into the world and try to end a war all on their own. It seems as though a little empathy or awareness is too much to ask from them, and that is why I am now here.

I hope that in writing and presenting my speech, I am able to provide a fresh perspective on things to some people. I want this speech to focus on what I was talking about, like how seeing war being documented alongside funny, relatable videos has desensitized us on the significance of the events and tragedies we consume through media. In crafting this speech, I would really like some help.

I want to use famous short stories, poems, articles, art, really any piece of relevant and credible media to help convey this message of awareness. I want help on crafting what message I am trying to convey to the audience through these media references.

One example of such anecdote or piece of media I can use is the song "Pearls" by Sade, and my experience with it. I recently saw a girl posting her trip to the beach with this song in the background. I was utterly confused, as, although art can be interpreted in many ways, I had thought this song explored famine, war, violence, and motherly love. Hearing the line,"There is a woman in Somalia, scraping for pearls on the roadside..."-a line clearly talking about the famine in Somalia-while seeing a girl's lavish trip to Hawaii, threw me off. While I'm sure the girl posting her trip meant no harm, I think that striking contrast brought me to this topic for my speech.

In a similar way to that song, I want to include other pieces of media as evidence to this desensitization I was speaking of. If there are any pieces of advice anyone would like to give in terms of writing this speech, or any pieces of media that stick out in your mind for this piece, I would love any suggestions. This is my first time posting on Reddit so sorry for the length of this! All suggestions are welcome but please keep in mind I am fairly young so keep the criticism constructive. Thank you!!!

I am planning on using this speech in a speech and debate tournament, specifically as an original oratory.

I have felt, as a very young adult, that lately the world and the people I am surrounded by lack any awareness or empathy for the world issues surrounding us. I feel as though the fact that social media presents world tragedies while simultaneously feeding entertaining, funny, or relatable videos has caused individuals to become desensitized to what is going on around them. When someone I know is scrolling on TikTok, they could see a video of a child in war, begging for dead family members to come back, and scroll right past it to instead watch a video about the latest trending song, or new show. While I understand that in a way, that's just the way the internet is, I feel as though being fed entertaining, engagement videos while also hearing about violence, death, war, and horrific things that plague our world, has caused us as humans to be desensitized to the worlds issues. When we hear that another bombing has occurred, more frequent and worse heatwaves are taking the world by storm, we find it easy to simply brush it off and instead worry about when the next episode of our favorite series will come out. While I understand that the worlds issues aren't everyone else's problem, it hurts me as a young person to see how happy everyone else is to be ignorant. We find it simpler to ignore than to face what's going on. If it doesn't affect us, it's not our issue. And so on and so forth. We repeat these phrases in comfort, but in reality, these issues are much closer to us than we like to admit. While I understand that the average person can't just stop a war or end world hunger, I feel as though being aware of the situation is better than ignoring it. Having these difficult conversations, making other people aware or these issues, and trying to make an impact in ways that you CAN do, is something I believe our world needs.

However, when I have brought this up with others, people think I am asking them to give up their life savings for starving children, or go out into the world and try to end a war all on their own. It seems as though a little empathy or awareness is too much to ask from them, and that is why I am now here.

I hope that in writing and presenting my speech, I am able to provide a fresh perspective on things to some people. I want this speech to focus on what I was talking about, like how seeing war being documented alongside funny, relatable videos has desensitized us on the significance of the events and tragedies we consume through media. In crafting this speech, I would really like some help.

I want to use famous short stories, poems, articles, art, really any piece of relevant and credible media to help convey this message of awareness. I want help on crafting what message I am trying to convey to the audience through these media references.

One example of such anecdote or piece of media I can use is the song "Pearls" by Sade, and my experience with it. I recently saw a girl posting her trip to the beach with this song in the background. I was utterly confused, as, although art can be interpreted in many ways, I had thought this song explored famine, war, violence, and motherly love. Hearing the line,"There is a woman in Somalia, scraping for pearls on the roadside..."-a line clearly talking about the famine in Somalia-while seeing a girl's lavish trip to Hawaii, threw me off. While I'm sure the girl posting her trip meant no harm, I think that striking contrast brought me to this topic for my speech.

In a similar way to that song, I want to include other pieces of media as evidence to this desensitization I was speaking of. If there are any pieces of advice anyone would like to give in terms of writing this speech, or any pieces of media that stick out in your mind for this piece, I would love any suggestions. This is my first time posting on Reddit so sorry for the length of this! All suggestions are welcome but please keep in mind I am fairly young so keep the criticism constructive. Thank you!!!

I am planning on using this speech in a speech and debate tournament, specifically as an original oratory.

I have felt, as a very young adult, that lately the world and the people I am surrounded by lack any awareness or empathy for the world issues surrounding us. I feel as though the fact that social media presents world tragedies while simultaneously feeding entertaining, funny, or relatable videos has caused individuals to become desensitized to what is going on around them. When someone I know is scrolling on TikTok, they could see a video of a child in war, begging for dead family members to come back, and scroll right past it to instead watch a video about the latest trending song, or new show. While I understand that in a way, that's just the way the internet is, I feel as though being fed entertaining, engagement videos while also hearing about violence, death, war, and horrific things that plague our world, has caused us as humans to be desensitized to the worlds issues. When we hear that another bombing has occurred, more frequent and worse heatwaves are taking the world by storm, we find it easy to simply brush it off and instead worry about when the next episode of our favorite series will come out. While I understand that the worlds issues aren't everyone else's problem, it hurts me as a young person to see how happy everyone else is to be ignorant. We find it simpler to ignore than to face what's going on. If it doesn't affect us, it's not our issue. And so on and so forth. We repeat these phrases in comfort, but in reality, these issues are much closer to us than we like to admit. While I understand that the average person can't just stop a war or end world hunger, I feel as though being aware of the situation is better than ignoring it. Having these difficult conversations, making other people aware or these issues, and trying to make an impact in ways that you CAN do, is something I believe our world needs.

However, when I have brought this up with others, people think I am asking them to give up their life savings for starving children, or go out into the world and try to end a war all on their own. It seems as though a little empathy or awareness is too much to ask from them, and that is why I am now here.

I hope that in writing and presenting my speech, I am able to provide a fresh perspective on things to some people. I want this speech to focus on what I was talking about, like how seeing war being documented alongside funny, relatable videos has desensitized us on the significance of the events and tragedies we consume through media. In crafting this speech, I would really like some help.

I want to use famous short stories, poems, articles, art, really any piece of relevant and credible media to help convey this message of awareness. I want help on crafting what message I am trying to convey to the audience through these media references.

One example of such anecdote or piece of media I can use is the song "Pearls" by Sade, and my experience with it. I recently saw a girl posting her trip to the beach with this song in the background. I was utterly confused, as, although art can be interpreted in many ways, I had thought this song explored famine, war, violence, and motherly love. Hearing the line,"There is a woman in Somalia, scraping for pearls on the roadside..."-a line clearly talking about the famine in Somalia-while seeing a girl's lavish trip to Hawaii, threw me off. While I'm sure the girl posting her trip meant no harm, I think that striking contrast brought me to this topic for my speech.

In a similar way to that song, I want to include other pieces of media as evidence to this desensitization I was speaking of. If there are any pieces of advice anyone would like to give in terms of writing this speech, or any pieces of media that stick out in your mind for this piece, I would love any suggestions. This is my first time posting on Reddit so sorry for the length of this! All suggestions are welcome but please keep in mind I am fairly young so keep the criticism constructive. Thank you!!!

I am planning on using this speech in a speech and debate tournament, specifically as an original oratory.

I have felt, as a very young adult, that lately the world and the people I am surrounded by lack any awareness or empathy for the world issues surrounding us. I feel as though the fact that social media presents world tragedies while simultaneously feeding entertaining, funny, or relatable videos has caused individuals to become desensitized to what is going on around them. When someone I know is scrolling on TikTok, they could see a video of a child in war, begging for dead family members to come back, and scroll right past it to instead watch a video about the latest trending song, or new show. While I understand that in a way, that's just the way the internet is, I feel as though being fed entertaining, engagement videos while also hearing about violence, death, war, and horrific things that plague our world, has caused us as humans to be desensitized to the worlds issues. When we hear that another bombing has occurred, more frequent and worse heatwaves are taking the world by storm, we find it easy to simply brush it off and instead worry about when the next episode of our favorite series will come out. While I understand that the worlds issues aren't everyone else's problem, it hurts me as a young person to see how happy everyone else is to be ignorant. We find it simpler to ignore than to face what's going on. If it doesn't affect us, it's not our issue. And so on and so forth. We repeat these phrases in comfort, but in reality, these issues are much closer to us than we like to admit. While I understand that the average person can't just stop a war or end world hunger, I feel as though being aware of the situation is better than ignoring it. Having these difficult conversations, making other people aware or these issues, and trying to make an impact in ways that you CAN do, is something I believe our world needs.

However, when I have brought this up with others, people think I am asking them to give up their life savings for starving children, or go out into the world and try to end a war all on their own. It seems as though a little empathy or awareness is too much to ask from them, and that is why I am now here.

I hope that in writing and presenting my speech, I am able to provide a fresh perspective on things to some people. I want this speech to focus on what I was talking about, like how seeing war being documented alongside funny, relatable videos has desensitized us on the significance of the events and tragedies we consume through media. In crafting this speech, I would really like some help.

I want to use famous short stories, poems, articles, art, really any piece of relevant and credible media to help convey this message of awareness. I want help on crafting what message I am trying to convey to the audience through these media references.

One example of such anecdote or piece of media I can use is the song "Pearls" by Sade, and my experience with it. I recently saw a girl posting her trip to the beach with this song in the background. I was utterly confused, as, although art can be interpreted in many ways, I had thought this song explored famine, war, violence, and motherly love. Hearing the line,"There is a woman in Somalia, scraping for pearls on the roadside..."-a line clearly talking about the famine in Somalia-while seeing a girl's lavish trip to Hawaii, threw me off. While I'm sure the girl posting her trip meant no harm, I think that striking contrast brought me to this topic for my speech.

In a similar way to that song, I want to include other pieces of media as evidence to this desensitization I was speaking of. If there are any pieces of advice anyone would like to give in terms of writing this speech, or any pieces of media that stick out in your mind for this piece, I would love any suggestions. This is my first time posting on Reddit so sorry for the length of this! All suggestions are welcome but please keep in mind I am fairly young so keep the criticism constructive. Thank you!!!