Activism - Your First Mission

DISCLAIMER: You are solely responsible for your own actions! We're merely providing some interesting tools and suggestions for how you can bring the law school scam message to a wider audience.  Always utilize COMMON SENSE, and NEVER engage in any activity that can cause property damage or injury.

 

I’ve done lots of talking since this blog started, trying to put the future of the reform movement into perspective, to find out where people stand, and to figure out where we want to go.  And now it’s time to stop talking and start doing.

Let’s take a "MacGyver"-style inventory of what we have on hand - he's the guy sporting a mullet in the photo above, for those who are too young to remember.  What do we have access to?  Money?  No.  Time?  Not even much of that.  But lookey-here, we do have hundreds, perhaps thousands of readers, most of whom will be people specifically interested in law school, or people who have an active interest in dissuading others from attending. That is a huge resource, so let’s tap into it.

How?  Well, how about starting with $10.  As a donation to us?  Hell no.  I can get a far better return on your activism dollars than that.

With your $10, I want you to go to OfficeMax or Staples.  Buy a packet of 500 1” by 4” labels (Avery 5161 or 8161 template – 20 labels per sheet.)  Then print out 500 warning labels using the following pdf template.  (Test one sheet first.  If it doesn’t print in alignment with the labels, adjust the scale.  I found that 100% works for me.)  I modeled the text on the Surgeon General’s warnings on tobacco and alcohol products – everyone knows what they look like.  If you’ve got a better idea for the labels, then set it up, email me the pdf, and I’ll post it too.

They look like this:

Here's the link to the pdf: Warning Label pdf

For $10, you’ve now got 500 chances to make a difference, and you are in control of putting that precisely where people get addicted to the idea of law school.  That’s two cents per message.  That’s cheaper than Google ads.  Far more targeted, too, as we can physically put the message on the offending materials.  Here’s what I want you to do with your labels:

When you see something that is aimed at promoting the LSAT, law school, or legal careers, STICK A WARNING LABEL ON IT.  (Of course, remember the disclaimer above - no property damage please!  I strongly advise using the labels that are easy to remove!)

But be creative!  And be active about this.  See an LSAT prep course flyer at your school?  Label it.  See a poster advertising a local law school?  Label it.  Your used copies of law prep books, casebooks, LSAT prep books etc.?  Labels on all, please.

For example, go from this fairly attractive, harmless little book cover...

...to this, the same book, but with a label that warns the reader that they're about to consume something that could seriously damage their future...

Simple.  Just like the warnings on a packet of cigarettes, or a delicious bottle of booze.

That’s your first lesson in activism.  Getting the message out through very simple, very cheap means, something that people might remember.  Use the resources we have – people who have access to the right places, the very places where law schools recruit the next unwitting class.

Now it’s up to you.  Take this and run with it.  Develop a taste for stepping away from the keyboard and putting into action what you believe in.

And send me photos of your work.  Anonymity is guaranteed.  I’ll post the best and most creative each week.

The point is to bring the message to people early, rather than have them stumble upon this blog late in the day.  If they find this blog, then chances are that law schools have managed to get their claws into them first, sowing the poisonous seeds of the idea that law might be a great career choice, making that all-important (and deceptive) first impression.  So let’s nip that in the bud.  From now on, we take the battle to the source, the undergrad hallways and noticeboards, the libraries where bored students peruse career guidebooks, where people get the very idea that they should go to law school.  We don’t wait for people to find us, when it’s too late to make a difference.  We find them first.

We don't want to treat the cancer, we want to prevent it.

Update - I know, this isn't necessarily the best idea, nor the best execution of this idea, but it is a starting point, and it's the first practical activism plan actually developed beyond a mere idea and into a workable, clear plan.  I chose this because it is something that you can prepare from the comfort of your home in private, it's cheap, and it really requires next to no effort or time commitment. It can also be done in the knowledge that it will not be linked back to you in any way.  Nobody will see you, and I know people here value their anonymity.  I hope that some of you will actually try this, even if just for the purpose of giving some practical feedback. If we can't even participate in this lowest-possible level of activism, is there much hope that our message will spread beyond these blogs?

Another update - I have reworked this post to eliminate any idea that I wanted you to engage in property damage to get the point across.  I don't.  I expect you all to use a little common sense.  You are the ones who will get into trouble if you destroy property, not us, so don't put them anywhere you might get into trouble.  I seriously doubt that campus police will bang you up for the night for sticking a warning label on a photocopied LSAT prep course flyer.  You are using these materials at your own risk!  Use removable stickers, don't post them anywhere they might cause permanent damage.