This week Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and Tumblr have all been blowing up about Kony 2012. Joseph Kony is a leader of the LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army). The group Invisible Children has made a 30-minute video to make Joseph Kony famous, in an attempt to raise awareness about his crimes, and gain support for his arrest.

If you haven’t seen the original video you can watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4MnpzG5Sqc

This video has shed light on some of the horrible things that have occurred in Uganda. According to the video, over the past 26 years Kony has kidnapped almost 30,000 young girls and boys. He trains the boys as soldiers, and the women as slaves. They are forced to kill their own parents and mutilate people’s faces beyond recognition. Invisible Children wants Joseph Kony captured and brought to justice, as he is on the International Criminal Court’s list. On April 20they want to plaster cities around the
world with KONY 2012 posters to raise awareness.

However, this video has also been getting a lot of hate. There are comments asking why people are suddenly so willing to help out abroad, when there are so many other issues around the world that we have ignored for so long.

There are concerns about Invisible Children. Its reputation has been called into question. The action plan provided in this video is very vague. What exactly are we doing with our new found awareness of this issue, other than raising more awareness on April 20? What does Invisible Children think the government should do to resolve this problem? What do their donations do to help people?

I watched an interesting response video by a Ugandan Woman (you can watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDyfTnydhMU), who doesn’t think other countries should be interfering with this problem.According to her, the only way to fix many of the problems in Africa is to stop giving hand outs and constant assistance, and instead give Africans the tools to solve their own problems. Interference by well meaning groups often causes more problems than it solves. 

Does the United States have the right to interfere in other nations’ affairs? Is military action the way to bring peace to a nation?

There is also the issue that Joseph Kony has been laying low since 2003. It is estimated he has few followers, and he is no longer in Uganda. Has this issue passed us by already? Is Invisible Children the right way to support the cause of bringing peace to Uganda?

Obviously this video has merit. Before March, I had never even heard of Joseph Kony. He may have been at the top of the International Criminal Court's list of most
wanted criminals, but he had never been on the cover of People or Us. What he did to those 30,000 children in unforgivable, and they should not be forgotten. There is no question that raising awareness about this man’s crimes is important. But, there are still a lot of other things to consider. I have still yet to fully form my own opinion about this topic.

I encourage everyone to watch the video, read other points of view, and then form your own opinion on this topic, and then comment and let me know what you think.

Helen

Well, first of all, do any of you have a friend who's super judgemental? I do.
 No matter what I and my other friend are talking about, she always says, "Shut up, no one cares," and goes on to tell a story about her extended family that we don't know, nor do we care about. She always acts like her life is so much more important than ours and never listens to what we have to say.

My other friend and I have been debating for a while whether or not we should tell our friend about her actions. She is outright rude towards us sometimes, and it really bothers me. I am not normally a confrontational person, but I feel that something needs to be done because the way she acts is bad for our friendship, as well as my friendships with other people. Several people have met only her and then decided they disliked me, by association, just because they didn't like her and her judgemental personality. In a small town, this isn't something that's easy to let go.

My friend is also a very negative person. Just recently, we went away for a provincial broomball tournament, and all she did the whole weekend was complain either about the cold, or food, or the hotel rooms, or anything else. She is constantly putting people down, and many people do not want to be around her because of her negative and judgemental personality. My other friend and I are afraid to call her out on this because of how harsh she can be sometimes.

Don't get me wrong, I love my friend and she can be a great person to be around. I don't mean to harp on her faults because we all have them, but this is just something that really bothers me.

I guess my point is that it is important to be your own person, and to not let the actions of other people define who you are. It is also important to make sure that when someone says they like, or dislike, you, that is is because of who YOU are and not because of who your friends are. 

What would you do in this situation?

~ Jamie 

Why We Broke Up written by Daniel Handler with art by Maira Kalman

Min Green and Ed Slaterton have broken up, so Min is writing Ed a letter and giving him a box. Inside the box is why they broke up. A movie ticket from their first date, a comb from the motel room they shared and every other memento collected over the course of a giddy, intimate, heartbreaking relationship.

Why We Broke Up is honest and sincere as it introduces you to Min and Ed and lets you live through their exhilarating and heartbreaking romance. Min is smart, sharp and devastatingly honest, voicing things we only wish we had the ability to voice.

Pick up the book when you have time to do nothing else, because once you start, you won't want to stop reading. And when you are done - or even when you are half way through and just want to talk, leave us a comment about your thoughts on this fabulous new book.

This book is suitable for young adults, ages 12 and older, and may contain mild uses of violence and/or profanity, sexual content and/or mature themes within the context of the story.

Looking for more GGC Book Club book choices for February? We select four great new books offered by Harper Collins Canada each month for each of the age categories below. If it’s on our book club list, then it has already received GGC’s approval based on specific criteria. Each book is also age-rated:

Sparks and Brownies (5-8 year olds)

Brownies and Guides (9-12 year olds), and

books for adults

Mercy by Rebecca Lim

Waking up on a bus, heading to the small town of Paradise, Mercy doesn’t know whose body and life she is sharing. Nobody knows, and she has to try and live this girl’s life until she leaves, and takes on someone else’s life. Only this time she meets Ryan, whose sister was kidnapped and is presumed dead. Now that another girl has gone missing, Mercy and Ryan have to act fast to find the kidnapper.

This is a great mystery with a fast-paced and intriguing plot. It will leave you guessing at every turn! Also, Mercy is an independent and strong willed girl who can look out for herself – not something we get to see in all YA books, so very welcome when we do get it!

1. Mercy awakes in a strange place, and has to quickly figure out who she is, where she is and who everyone around her is. Have you ever experienced anything like that? When and where? What did you do to get through it?
2. Luc wants Mercy to stay quiet and hidden, just to get from body to body as fast as she can so she can get to him, but Mercy feels compelled to help, or at least not do any damage to, the girls whose lives she lives. Do you think this is the right thing for Mercy to do? Why or why not? Would you get involved?

Looking for more GGC Book Club book choices for January? We select four great new books offered by Harper Collins Canada each month for each of the age categories below. If it’s on our book club list, then it has already received GGC’s approval based on specific criteria. Each book is also age-rated:

Sparks and Brownies (5-8 year olds)

Brownies and Guides (9-12 year olds), and

books for adults

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

What if you knew today was your last day? What if you knew you were going to experience it seven times? This is what happens to Samantha Kingston. For a week this popular high school girl who had it all, relives her last day to not only discover the circumstances surrounding her death also discover, appreciate and understand the people that surround her. She pushes the boundaries of what is right and wrong only to discover what she actually has strong positive values.

If there was ever a book that would represent all the different facets of high school life for a teenage girl – this book is one of them. It’s about the friendships, relationships, betrayals, sexualities, class systems, bullying, depression and suicide, resilience and epiphanies and how all these things can be experienced, understood and changed in just one high school day.  

This book is suitable for young adults, ages 12 and older, and may contain mild uses of violence and/or profanity, sexual content and/or mature themes within the context of the story.

1. While reliving her last day, Samantha Kingston pushes her social boundaries and makes an effort to really get to know and understand people she had ignored or bullied in the past. She discovers the rumours that she helped spread were lies (as rumours generally are) and she realizes that she might have more in common with them than she thought to realize or admit. Think about the people in your school and the rumours that you have heard. What were these rumours? How did it change how you perceived the person(s)? After reading this book, what did you learn about the impact of rumours? What will you do the next time you hear a rumour? What can you do to better get to know somebody before making a personal judgment?
2. Although this book is fictional, it does reflect situations and actions that do happen in high school. This includes bullying and depression. Have you or any of your friends felt depressed or bullied? What did you do? Who did you talk too? Who can you talk too? Who should you talk too? Create a list of people who can help you or your friends or classmates when they are feeling depressed or bullied. Ask an adult that you trust to help you make this list and share it with your friends and/or classmates. If you need more help with tools to deal with depression and/or bullying you can also call Kids Help Phone at 1-800-669-6868 or visit the website at http://www.kidshelpphone.ca/Teens/Home.aspx
3. During this journey of discovery, Samantha also realizes all the things that she truly cared about and uses a few of her repeat days to really show her appreciation. In reality, many people won’t get the chance to realize it’s their last day until is too late. After reading this book, how often are you going to think about the things you appreciate? What will you do to remind yourself of the good things in your life? Take today for example. What do you appreciate today? Who are the people in your life you care about? How are you going to show or tell them that you appreciate them?

Girl Guides have tons of activities that can help you build healthy relationship and compliment what you have learned from this book, such as Girl EMpower and Girls United. If your Units hasn’t participated in these already, ask your Guider more about these two program activities.

Looking for more GGC Book Club book choices for December? We select four great new books offered by Harper Collins Canada each month for each of the age categories below. If it’s on our book club list, then it has already received GGC’s approval based on specific criteria. Each book is also age-rated:

Sparks and Brownies (5-8 year olds)

Brownies and Guides (9-12 year olds), and

books for adults