Tara Thompson - Hunger Games

I read all three of the Hunger Game’s books and became very emotionally invested in the series. As a lot of girls probably did, I found myself putting myself in the shoes of Katniss, the main character. I would ask myself, what would I do in her situation? How would I react to the Capitol, or the actual games? Would I try to win them or would I stand up for what I believed was wrong? It blows my mind to wonder what if…what if the games were real and happened in our world. I like to tell myself that it would never happen, but would it? I’m the type of person who likes to look for the best in people, but the reality is that there are some sick people in this world with twisted views. For example: the Holocaust. The Holocaust went on for a long time, and a lot of people did in fact know about it. However, people were either too afraid or didn’t care enough to do something about it. People are so often too afraid to stand up for what is right because they don’t want to be on the outside – they want to fit in. Its like the bystander effect – when people see something going wrong, they don’t say anything but instead suppose that someone else will. The sad thing is though, with this effect, no one ever actually does anything. The desire to fit in takes over the desire to do what is right.

This reminds me of Invisible Children’s Kony 2012 campaign. Here is the thing, I understand that no organization is perfect. However IC has seen that there is injustice happening in the world, and has decided to do something about it. Instead of falling to the bystander effect, they are standing up for what is right. However, all around them people are putting down their efforts. My question is what if? What if the Hunger Games ever became a reality in our world? Would any one stand up for what is right if they did, or would our world fall into the horrifying reality of that time? I’d like to hope I would stand up and do something, but it is certainly a scary thought especially when I look around and see other people being put down for standing up.