Model UN Covers Social Media in Crisis Council
O’Neal’s Upper School Model United Nations Club was “in session” recently representing a “crisis council” concerning social media and its influence on advertising and election results.
Students represented influential people such as the Prime Minister of India – Shri Narendra Modi (played by Alan Gutschmit), Dr. Liselot Hudders, associate professor in marketing communication and consumer behavior at Ghent University (played by Mia Franco); President of Russia – Vladimir Putin (played by Garrett Graham), and Shou Zi Chew, CEO of Tik Tok (played by Max Epstein). The students opened debate by stating their position on either the positives or negatives of social media platforms.
The dictator of North Korea, Kim Jong-un played by chemistry teacher Mr. Earl Poole with security detail played by Tim Wenzel, burst into the council session and intimidated the members and made a series of demands such as a McDonalds in Pyongyang, no more reality shows (Kim Kardashian played by Morin Samples cried), and a ransom of gold or the Internet would be shut down!
The crisis committee pivoted quickly and came up with several plans on how to handle this emerging crisis. Debate ranged from how to foil Kim Jong-un’s plan to launching Sterling- which is an alternative Internet.
Debate was lively and Max Epstein won best delegate and Garrett Graham won runner up as well as best position paper.
The Upper School Model United Nations club has 20 members and is led by senior Stephanie Ducker with the assistance of seniors Nathan Brianas and George Casey. Model UN encourages an understanding of the international world, critical thinking skills along with creativity in times of crisis. The ability for public speaking and teambuilding and the ability to see other's points of view is also essential. This year ‘s crisis council was an outstanding representation of all of those skills.
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