Gilbert's Essay Recognized by U.S. Institute of Peace
Brian Gilbert is a deep thinker when he wants to be. The Huntington High School sophomore is one of only three students in New York State to be recognized in this year's United States Institute of Peace essay contest.
More than 1,100 entries from across the nation were submitted for the 2012 competition. Participants were required to address the topic question: "How can new media best be leveraged to help build peace and prevent conflict?"
"Throughout the past decade, new media has been used to strive for peace and to rally against violence, but imperfections in the structure of these campaigns have sometimes fostered adverse effects in achieving these goals," Mr. Gilbert wrote in his essay.
"Examples of these flaws can be seen in recent turmoil in the states of Colombia and Iran," continued Mr. Gilbert in his essay. "These developments show that the liquidity of new media, which brings about its utility in social organizations, is indeed a double-edged sword. The internet disseminates information to friends and foes alike; its capabilities are beyond the reach of no one. In addition, the flurry of material is too often infused with propaganda and distortion, which accentuate the divide between internet-based social movements and established forms of organization."
Mr. Gilbert's full essay can be found on the Huntington School District's website at www.hufsd.edu. He's a student in Huntington social studies teacher Camille Tedeschi's Advanced Placement World History class.
The Academy for International Conflict Management and Peacebuilding, the education and training arm of the U.S. Institute for Peace coordinates the annual essay contest "based on the belief that questions about peace, justice, freedom, and security are vital to civic education," according to the group's website.
The national peace essay contest is designed to "promote serious discussion among high school students, teachers and national leaders about international peace and conflict resolution today and in the future."
The USIP was created by Congress to "prevent and mitigate international conflict without resorting to violence," according to its website. It is an independent, non-partisan conflict management center.