Will YOU Step Up?

Civic duty – n. the responsibilities of a citizen

Where does our civic responsibility begin? What is required of us just based on being a citizen of the world? How much concern should we show for our fellow citizens? How much should we allow to go on around us without taking any action? How close does the offense have to be to you before you deem it necessary for you to respond to it? Will you call 911 if you see someone being assaulted on the streets? Will you speak up for the student who is constantly bullied at school? If your friend is about to do something morally wrong or illegal, would you try to stop them? What if there is a problem plaguing your community, would you take steps to solve it?

There’s a show called What Would You Do? that comes on ABC. It’s a hidden camera show that sets up different scenarios to TVsee how people will react. On one episode, they set up a situation where a little girl was getting abducted. It was the middle of the day on a fairly busy street. A man was struggling with a little girl, and she was screaming, “Somebody help! You’re not my dad!” It took hours before someone tried to help the seven-year-old girl. I was stunned. How detached are we from each other that we can see a little girl who could possibly be in serious trouble and not do anything? I’m not saying that they should have tried to physically stop the man, but at least they could have called the police. I know that we don’t always know what the situation is and that little girl could have just been a child defying her parent, but I believe it is better to be safe than sorry. Call the police and let them sort it out. When the show’s host interviewed the people who just kept walking, most of them said that they thought someone else would do something. That’s probably how a lot of us feel about the ills that we see every day.

The problem with the idea that someone else will do something is that nothing ever gets done. I know that we don’t have the time to take up EVERY cause, but I challenge you to decide on at least one thing that you would like to change and start taking steps to change it. Sometimes, trying to make any kind of change can seem like a daunting task, but just start with baby steps. As with any long journey, it starts with a single step. Once you take that initial step, the others will become easier, and before you know it, you will be well on your way to accomplishing something great.

How many things do you see or hear every day that bother you? Whatever your answer to that question is the number of opportunities that you have to improve the world around you. Of the things that trouble you, what upsets you the most? This could be where you should direct your energy because it is possibly something that you are passionate about, and when the road gets tough, it’s easier to fight for something that you care deeply about versus some arbitrary cause. Now that you’ve chosen a cause to take up, are you part of the problem? If so, the first change you need to make is within yourself. Doing this can make a huge impact on those around you because it gives you and your cause so much more credibility. I think we’ve all encountered people telling us how to live our lives, but not practicing what they preach. This makes their admonitions less affective because they don’t even believe enough in what they’re saying to take their own advice. When people see that you believe something so strongly that it changes you, they will take note.

So, I ask you again, where does your civic responsibility begin? How much nonsense are you willing to allow to go on around you without doing anything about it? Does something have to “hit close to home” before you decide it requires your attention? Whatever the case may be, when all of the factors fall into place and you decide that something needs to be done, will you step up and do it?

-Tiffany Vicks

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