Oprah's Big Give

[jablms59]

So I happened to Turn on to Oprah's Big Give last night... Not too familiar with the show.. But the jist I get is the contestants compete to donate or give of themselves as much as possible... "Give big or go home

Comments

[mtcrunch23]

Allow me to play devil's advocate for a second.

What then is the purpose of having service hour requirements and fraternity service awards? I unfortunately think that the recognition makes us more likely to serve than we normally would be.

It's human nature to want to be acknowledged. And while I don't agree, even our very own service fraternity has acknowledgement measurements in place.

[girlonthewing6]

This reminds me of how my school implemented this "Quality Experience Plan" for all incoming freshmen that forces them to get four points for four different community service projects. A lot of students, freshmen and upperclassmen alike, hate the idea of mandatory volunteering - it's a paradox

[ukelele]

I don't like the idea of mandatory volunteering, but I doubt anyone is forced to be on a TV show.

[gmudemocrat]

Yeah, when I was in middle school there was a community service requirement for my civics class. It of course devolved into me asking my parents for their signature and telling them exactly why. They want their kid to get an A, even if it is in a disingenuous way.

As to the show, I think them doing good things in that format is certainly preferable to them not giving away anything or spending the money on some other pointless show. Why not do something good?

[tflyon]

I think you need to have competition, even if it is against your past performance or your own expectations. competition is a way to record the level of impact you had.

you can compete against other individuals to see who can do the most good in a certain time. or challenge yourself to clean up 5 miles of trails. without competition you would not know if you made the world a better place because you would not be comparing outcomes to anything.

I think the issue is motivation. are you competing to improve the quality of life for others, or are you trying to fill out a resume, impress a special some one, make up for past sins, or in the case of the show, compete for money? none of these motivations is inherently wrong, they are simply different.

[derek_cashman]

Those contestants on the Big Give are not being "forced" to do service. They all did volunteer in the first place by auditioning for the show, not terribly different from pledges joining Alpha Phi Omega (though APO does, of course, have a higher acceptance rate). As far as the competition itself goes, competitiveness is simply a part of human nature, and is a good way to motivate people. APO has competitions, too -- many chapters give out awards for service (most service hours, etc). I have to give Oprah a lot of credit for bringing in more awareness to the whole volunteerism cause here,...

[pablovangogh]

I like that instead of a show about whiny people stuck in some house together doing pointless tasks and eating weird things, there is a show about doing big great things for other people.

The show puts community service in the public eye and might give the viewing audience an idea of how to go out and help in their own communities. It also glorifies volunteering -which I much prefer over shows like, "the bachelor", "the flava of love", "america's next top model" and other crap that you find on tv.
And the people on the show don't know that the winner will recieve a cash prize, they're doing it to be the best at service - which is a deep, personal motivation that I respect. I think it's a good thing.