I'm not sure if you were following the news at all this weekend, but a big story from Scotland involved a 9-year-old girl and her blog. Martha Payne began her blog Never Seconds in April, as a fun way to show her family and friends what she was being fed in the school cafeteria for lunch. She was also hoping to raise over $11 000 for the charity Mary's Meals, which helps to feed children in Africa. She rated the food she got for lunches for taste, healthiness, portion size, price, and whether she found any hairs in her meal, and also posted pictures of her meals. After celebrity chef Jamie Oliver (who has been a champion of changing school lunches to make them healthier and tastier) tweeted about her blog, the popularity of the blog increased. After pressure mounted on the local school council in the media, due to some of the food being served, Martha was told she could no longer take pictures of her food. The backlash against the council both in the UK and around the world was so strong, that the council reversed its decision, and Martha is now once again blogging about her lunches, and taking photos of them. Her blog has received over 6 000 000 hits, and Martha has helped to raise over $120 000 for Mary's Meals! In addition, a celebrity chef is now going to help the school overhaul their lunches - incredible (you can read more about this story here)! I shared this story, and the blog, with the students this morning because I wanted them to realize (a) how powerful blogging can be, and (b) how kids CAN make a difference. I'm not expecting them to all change the world and raise hundreds of thousands of dollars tomorrow... but I want them to know that they can all achieve great things... and to think about how they might be able to use their blogging skills to do something for someone else...
No comments:
Post a Comment