Posts filed under ‘Relationships’
The Bullies and the Bullied – A National Epidemic
The study of the “Ethics of American Youth” released Tuesday surveyed more than 40,000 high school students. The survey reported that half of all high school students say they have bullied someone in the past year, with nearly as many saying they have been the victims of bullying.
A study by the non-profit Josephson Institute of Ethics also found that one-third of all high school students say that violence is a big problem at their school, and nearly one in four say they do not feel very safe there.
The issue of harassment gained prominence this year after a spate of suicides by students who were being bullied. President Obama has even stepped forward, calling for greater awareness of the bullying epidemic, saying the nation must “dispel the myth that bullying is just a normal rite of passage or an inevitable part of growing up.”
This past Tuesday also featured The U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, holding a national press conference announcing guidance to schools on handling bullying and discriminatory harassment.
Earlier this month, Duncan released a statement about anti-gay bullying in response to to a trend of recent suicides — particularly Tyler Clementi, a Rutgers University freshman who took his life in September:
“This is a moment where every one of us — parents, teachers, students, elected officials, and all people of conscience —needs to stand up and speak out against intolerance in all its forms. Whether it’s students harassing other students because of ethnicity, disability or religion; or an adult, public official harassing the President of the University of Michigan student body because he is gay, it is time we as a country said enough. No more. This must stop.”
Duncan’s statements and planned press conference also comes at the time that the local story of Cassandra Morris was published. Morris dropped out of Ogemaw Heights High School earlier this month because she said she couldn’t handle the bullying from students for being a lesbian. Her bullying went beyond the walls of the school.
So with all these cries for justice, cries for help, occurring this week, the question remains: will something actually be done? Bullying is a crisis that is always discussed, but never really tackled. Maybe now that the harsh spotlight of the media is highlighting every painful angle progress might actually be made? The White House has even gone as far as to say that it would host a conference next year on preventing bullying and harassment. But is this soon enough?
Spread the Word to End the Word
Across the United States and around the globe, young people have joined a movement of mutual respect and human dignity called Spread the Word to End the Word. The goal: get people to stop and think about their hurtful and disparaging use of the word “retard” and pledge to stop using it.
Spread the Word to End the Word was created by youth with and without intellectual disabilities who participated in the Special Olympics Global Youth Activation Summit at the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games. The motivation for the campaign was driven by a united passion to promote the positive contributions people with intellectual disabilities make to communities around the world combined with a simple call to action – a pledge to stop using a word – that also symbolizes positive attitude change and a commitment to make the world a more accepting place for all people.
We found that almost all youth have heard the r-word and most have heard it used by a friend or a student at school. We also found that youth react differently to the r-word if it is directed at a person with a disability or if a friend says the word.
Half of youth (51%) said that they felt bad or sorry for the person being picked. Some responded that they either laughed or didn’t care when they heard the r-word and many (39%) said that they did nothing. Some youth (33%) took a stand and told the person it was wrong to say the r-word.
What YOU Can Do
Join he cause and the Spread the Word to End the Word’s Project UNIFY movement in schools around the U.S. Motivate your friends to get involved with a variety of fun youth activities. You can even contribute five minutes to take the Spread the Word to End the Word pledge.
Get in the game by joining Special Olympics Unified Sports®, where people with and without intellectual disabilities train and compete together on the same team.
Know someone with an intellectual disability? Refer them to a Special Olympics program nearby, and for more information, go to http://www.specialolympics.org/.
SXSWi: Vote YES for Beth and Hybrid Enterprises
Post by Beth Carls, CEO, OneSeventeen Media & Co-Founder, KidThrive.org
I hope to share more about our exciting journey into a hybrid enterprise at the SXSW 2010 Interactive Festival in Austin, TX March 12-16. With your help as part of the judging process, I’ll be a panelist at the upcoming festival. Check out my session overview and vote with a Thumbs Up to say “YES!” to learning more: The Hybrid Enterprise: A Tool for Visionary Entrepreneurs. Voting ends Friday, September 4, 2009. I look forward to seeing you there!
Introducing KidThrive.org + OneSeventeen Media
Post by Beth Carls, CEO, OneSeventeen Media & Co-Founder, KidThrive.org
As committed social venture entrepreneurs, the founders of OneSeventeen Media, Inc. recently made a strategic decision to operate two entities; the existing for-profit business (OneSeventeen Media) and a new, openly funded nonprofit organization (KidThrive.org), each operating independently and pursuing their own unique mission. This type of collaboration today is called a hybrid enterprise.
The term “hybrid” may sound familiar. While Wikipedia describes hybrid as “the combination of two or more different things, aimed at achieving a particular objective or goal” the word has context in mythology and iconography, biology, etymology, transportation, music, culture, computers and electronics, finance, sports and even video games.
Most of us probably think of cars when hearing the word hybrid. However, in this context, none of the above apply. The hybrid I’m referring to has to do with a new business trend for socially responsible entrepreneurs to use as their operational structure.
I recently spoke with Priya Haji, co-founder of World of Good, Inc. and WorldofGood.org – IMHO, a model example of how hybrid enterprises work best. WorldofGood.org works for industry-wide changes for alleviating global poverty. World of Good, Inc. partially funds the work of the nonprofit through founder’s equity, a percentage of annual profits, and periodic company-sponsored fundraisers and events. Unlike other hybrid-enterprises, however, WorldofGood pursues independent funding for its work through private and corporate foundations and individual grants.
We are committed to and believe this new paradigm of a hybrid enterprise is one that supports a more dynamic, interactive and new economy era model. KidThrive.org + OneSeventeen Media will reinforce the overarching goal of large-scale research, development and implementation of responsible and measurable social media tools that help our youth survive and thrive their developmental and growing up years.
This “Social Nitwitting” Stuff is a Hoot!
My mom joined me on vacation last week, and her one goal from our time together was to learn how to “Facebook better.” She sent me this cartoon via snail mail today, and as she notes, it’s indicative of our attempted Facebook lessons. I’m incredibly proud of her for wanting to keep up with technology and working to utilize Facebook. Susan knows it has lots to offer her, but lots of what? The day before she left, Susan asked me, “but why would I want to look at Facebook every day?” and knew that I had failed as her personal ‘net instructor. Our contrasting perspectives on social networking’s value and relevance mirror many parent/child and teacher/student approaches to social media tools: the young folks want it and the old folks don’t quite get it. [Disclaimer: this is a sweeping generalization, but not totally off target.]
At OneSeventeen Media, we’re excited to build the bridge in homes, classrooms and youth organizations between tech savvy kids and the important adults in their lives. We know that our interactive tools can improve the lives of kids and their relationships and communications with adult role models.
(Imaged clipped from the San Antonio Express News)
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Queen Rania Embraces the Power of Social Media
There are many incredible opportunities through social media, but what excites me most is its power to break down barriers, promote understanding and generate meaningful dialogue. Queen Rania of Jordan agrees, as she shares on her her YouTube Channel’s spoof of Dave Letterman’s top ten list.
“…I wanted to kick start a conversation in the world’s largest community, because we’re stronger when we listen, and smarter when we share…”
Kudos to Queen Rania for choosing to be a leader in the fight against intolerance and engaging her subjects, and the world, through social media. I’m inspired by her message, and I look forward to hearing more from her.
She’s a great role model for PlumbBrain kids as they experience the same incredible power of conversation by engaging in PlumbBrain’s social media tools to improve their relationships and communications with parents, peers and mentors.
(Thanks to Roger Clague for sharing Queen Rania’s message with me and sending this great post!)
Making the Most of Ypulse Mashup 2009
By Amy Looper, OneSeventeen Media Co-Founder
This year’s 2009 Ypulse Youth Marketing Mashup conference was another winner and maybe even the strongest lineup yet. It was good to catch up with old friends and to make new ones. For those of you who may be new to OneSeventeen Media, this is one of our very favorite conferences because Anastsia Goodstein, Ypulse Founder, does such a fantastic job bringing in top brand, corporate and social marketers, media professionals, non-profits and educators together to share the latest best practices, research and the strategies on marketing to youth with technology.
For OneSeventeen Media’s focus, the following were particularly relevant highlights:
- Social networks continue to be an important place for youth to accomplish social good and engage around current events. Interestingly enough, C&R research presented that environmental issues were no longer the number one issue among youth, their research shows it was youth oriented issues like education and child poverty as number one, cancer was number two, then followed the environment in the number 3 slot.
- I think the big shocker was learning from Bill Carter’s presentation on Fuse Marketing’s latest research, that teens still read magazines! In fact, it was the second most effective rated medium to reach teens, and TV isn’t off their radar either! Several girls on the youth panels mentioned they like to read Seventeen Magazine, and they do pay attention to ads. However, when they see an ad of interest they will go to the web to do research and then make any purchases from there. 75% of teens believe it’s appropriate for brands to reach them via TV ads. The bottom line? It’s imperative to have go-to-market strategies that fully integrate all available platforms youth utilize. The underlying theme here was to have an authentic, value-providing story that your youth market can relate to.
- Facebook’s faceoff with Twitter continues. While it’s been widely reported that youth have been slow to adopt Twitter, the youth panelist were somewhat divided on which was a better marketing tool. Of note, none of them mentioned MySpace. Facebook fans liked the ability to create a community around your brand ie: through a fan page and or group, while the other panelist opted for Twitter because it was the best way to monitor your brand as well as insert yourself into a relevant conversation with others about your brand. It’s important to remember these young panelists are still a bit older than our market, but trends with the older youth trickle down to younger kids over time — something for us to watch for.
- Last, but definitely not least, Don Tapscott’s keynote presentation was brilliant, and Guy Kawasaki’s masterful moderation of the Youth Entrepreneurs panel was fantastic! These young entrepreneurs are fearless and had many valuable insights to share. You can read more about what others are saying about their conference experiences on the Ypulse site.
Job well done Anastasia and team!
(Pictured above: Guy Kawasaki and the Youth Entrepreneurs panel in action)
Teens Eager for Better Parental Relationships
“GENESEE COUNTY, Michigan – Asia Johnson is an academic achiever, star athlete and a social butterfly.
On the surface, it looks like she has it all.
In reality, there’s nothing the 13-year-old wants more than a relationship with her father.
She says so in a new book, “Listen To Me,” which she co-wrote with a dozen other Flint-area students. In touching and heartfelt prose, the young people offer insight into the most personal experiences, along with their hopes, dreams and problems. It’s aimed at getting their parents to better understand them.”
This poetry project, organized by Recco Richardson, is an excellent example that kids are hungry to share more about their lives to improve relationships with their parents, but they often need tools and guidance to get their messages across. Written prose is one of the many ways PlumbBrain can help facilitate communication between kids and parents, improving their relationships and interactions.
(Image found here)
Police Use Social Media: Break Barriers, Build Trust
Posted by Amy Looper, Co-Founder & Chief Engagement Officer
I saw last week where Facebook’s membership is now 200 million strong, but what caught my eye as I read through Mark Zuckerberg’s post was where they have created a space for people to share their stories of how Facebook has “helped them give back to their communities [and] effect change.” The story of a Toronto Constable Scott Mills, who is using new media to prevent as well as solve crimes among youth, is a particularly a worthy read.
The story was originally reported in the Montreal Gazette and pointed out that at a recent South African Interpol Conference, 170 law enforcement delegates from 70 countries gathered to talk about tracking international fugitives. Constable Scott Mills presented how he is using social media tools and his 1,700 Facebook “friends” to reach out to youth and to encourage them to report potential crimes before they happen.
It’s working. Among a number of successes listed in the article, it was reported that his YouTube video appeals have had more than 1.4 million views since February of 2007. He has trained an additional 30 officers assigned to Toronto schools on how to use new media to engage teens. He’s also joined online memorial groups for murder victims offering condolences as well as contact information to send anonymous tips.
This is a huge “doing good” story that I’d love to see replicated here in the States. It’s reaching out in a way that meets kids in their technology based culture to provide a bridge for them to do the right things as well.
We’d like to hear your stories of kids who you know that are doing good with social media.
(Image found here)
Teaching Kids Empathy, Changing Lives
“As a school, we’ve done a lot of work with human rights,” said Michael McDermott, the middle school principal. “But you can’t have kids saving Darfur and isolating a peer in the lunchroom. It all has to go together.”
Scarsdale Middle School has the right idea. They’ve launched a tremendous campaign to change their school culture by explicitly teaching students about empathy. This is a fantastic idea and central to combating the bullying epidemic. Direct, relevant information about exuding empathy towards others and examples of empathy in action are examples of the types of content PlumbBrain will provide kids everywhere. Kudos to the Scarsdale crew for starting the conversation about empathy at their school!
(Image found here)
