Dumping a bucket of water on your head doesn't help anyone with ALS. 

Or does it? Chances are everyone who reads this article has seen one (or like 142) ALS ice bucket challenge videos. But just in case you haven't, the premise is that if nominated, you must either dump a bucket of ice cold water on your head, or donate $100 to ALS research. ALS is also known as Lou Gherig's disease. It's a disease of the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that control voluntary muscle movement.    

For most people who are nominated, and especially for all of the broke college students I know, the ice bucket sounds like a way better option. You can share the video on social media, be a part of the phenomenon, and nominate a few of your friends to undergo the same torture. Even celebrities are getting involved--Tyler Perry nominated Oprah. LeBron James nominated President Obama.

But the question is, what good does all of this do? Where are we getting ALS research by dumping buckets of ice water on our heads? Recently, I've seen a lot of tweets and Facebook statuses condemning the ice bucket challenge. They say things like "newsflash, dumping a bucket of water on yourself isn't helping anyone."

Here's where that argument breaks down: statistics don't lie. The ALS Association reported that it, "has surpassed $10 million in 'ice bucket' donations." So do the majority of people who partake donate? Do they even have an understanding of what ALS is? Probably not. Does a campaign in which the primary purpose is to "raise awareness" have the potential to make a significant monetary difference? Evidently, yes.

My suggestion? Keep it up with the ice bucket challenges. However, we should also educate ourselves on the issue. If you do choose to participate, maybe post a little blurb about what ALS is, or a link to the ALS Association website along with your video. That way, anyone can learn about the disease and where to donate. Yeah, donating money is going to do more for ALS research than participating in the ice bucket challenge will. But if you cause someone to simply Google ALS and learn something about it, then that's a win, too. The fact that people are having this argument about whether the campaign is even beneficial is in fact raising awareness. And that's the point of the campaign anyway! This many people utilizing social media in a productive way to raise money and awareness to help people in need? Connecting everyone from politicians, athletes and celebrities to people like you and me? That's an incredible thing!

Most importantly, don't be a scrooge. If the fact that a bunch of people are dumping a bucket of water on themselves to raise awareness for a great cause really bothers you that much, you should probably move on. Take a nap, eat a cookie, and stop being so grumpy. Donations have spiked over 1,000%, after all. If the ice bucket challenge helps one single person with ALS, isn't it worth it?