Money Is Not Always The Answer
Money can solve some problems, but not all problems…
When England beat Germany in the Euro 2020 a week ago, the dominant story was how exciting this was for England.
It was a big win for the team, and for Gareth Southgate, and it meant that England was advancing to the quarter-finals.
But one other moment from the match also got attention – a young German girl at the match was captured on the TV crying after her team’s loss. Discussion about the child made its way to twitter – and not everyone responded positively, with references to her nationality and Germany’s Nazi past.
Then a UK man named Joel Hughes set up a JustGiving page with the aim of raising £500 to “show this little German supporter that not everyone in the UK is horrible.”
It’s flown past that goal and now sits at over £35,000.
And that’s nice, but it has me wondering one thing: why?
This child (who looked to be somewhere between 7-10 years old) hopefully didn’t leave the match and immediately jump online to see what the twitterverse was saying.
In reality, she probably went home, went to bed, and was the envy of her classmates the next day because she got to see the match LIVE.
People making fun of a child is awful – and totally unnecessary. But that pain is not resolved with cash.
Why does she need £500 or £35,000? What does that have to do with people she doesn’t know making stupid comments on twitter about her being a Nazi? They don’t know her – it isn’t personal. It’s people being jerks – which they often do online (and sadly, in person, too).
If anything, this campaign could actually hurt her as the story continues to run in the press (as the amount of money raised increases), and they continue to call for help identifying the girl and/or her parents.
Hughes has done something with good intentions I’m sure, but what problem is he actually solving? If you want this girl (and German fans) to know that the UK has nice people, will sending money achieve that? Most (all?) countries have citizens or sports fans who don’t always demonstrate the behaviour the country would like to be associated with.
We know that Brits can be kind and generous. Their generosity was on display for the world last year when they supported Captain Tom Moore’s garden walk to the tune of £32 million. That generosity wasn’t limited to Brits, but it did begin – and gain momentum – in the UK.
If you want to show the kindness of British people, maybe ask people to sign a letter supporting and celebrating passionate sports fans – and keep this kid’s name and image out of it. Or if you want to raise money, raise it for something that is attached to the issue, like an anti-bullying charity.
Or just let the story go – as the news cycle for stories like this tends to be short. Tomorrow there will be something about Meghan Markle or Boris Johnson for people to criticize – or maybe twitter will be distracted because Captain America tweets about Christian Slater again.
Some problems aren’t resolved with money. And cutting someone a check doesn’t excuse poor behaviour or erase someone’s pain.
And maybe the message that money makes it all OK is not the best message for Brits – or anyone – to send.
UPDATE: The German girl was found - and her family asked that the money raised be donated to Unicef.
****************************************************************************
Want a dose of positivity and fun in your inbox? Sign up to receive my free newsletter, Curious Minds.
Each week you'll get insights that mix curiosity with business, history, or pop culture.
Be curious - and keep learning!