Poems and songs
Both poems and songs can be very powerful methods of raising awareness. This is because they can communicate a message or a story very clearly. People who listen to a poem or song may also remember the words, especially if they listen to them many times.
Poems and songs can also express different emotions. This means that listeners are not just hearing the words, but also the feelings associated with the words. Feelings could relate to happiness, sadness or even hope about the particular issue that is being raised.
Real-life example 鈥 poems
Tracey Cullen, co-founder of Inspirative Arts, has written a poem to raise awareness of disability hate crime. Raising awareness of such an issue may help tackle the problem, as people may want to do something positive to combat hate crime as a direct result of reading the poem.
The charity Oxfam has set a poetry challenge called the Even it Up Poetry Challenge. The challenge encourages young people aged 11-25 to write a poem about global and gender inequality in order to raise awareness.
We believe if everyone does a small thing to help raise awareness then the bigger picture can be created.
Real-life example 鈥 song
R.E.M. was an American alternative rock band which had a number of hits during the 1980s until the early 2000s. One of their songs was called Orange Crush.
This song raised awareness about the politics regarding the Vietnam war and the use of a chemical spray that has been attributed to health problems in soldiers.
Songs that raise awareness of an issue encourage people to think about the message that is being communicated. Thinking about an issue may then help change a person鈥檚 thoughts and behaviours.
