Proposal

Social Action Proposal Introduction: Wear Your Words By: Mia Iaderosa My proposal is based on the issue of cyber bullying- actions that use information and communication technologies to support deliberate, repeated, and hostile behavior by an individual or group, that is intended to harm another or others. Cyber bullying can take place on social media sites such as Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter. People constantly use these sites to direct hurtful and negative comments at others. Many children all over the world have either contemplated or committed suicide due to this type of harassment. There have been several high-profile cases involving tee nagers taking their own lives because of being harassed and mistreated over the internet, a phenomenon that has been termed cyberbullicide. It is very embarrassing to have someone make a demeaning comment about you to your face or someone else’s, but embarrassment reaches a higher level when comments are posted online for the public. One million children were harassed, threatened or subjected to other forms of cyber bullying on Facebook during the past year, while 90% of social media-using teens who have witnessed online cruelty say they have ignored mean behavior on social media. Sometimes comments aren’t made to randomly attack or bully someone. There are times when two or more people are in an argument on a social networking site and a mean comment is retaliated in a moment of anger. Then, after it is too late and everyone saw it, that person realizes they should not have made it. It is fun to participate in social networking and there are many advantages of doing so. However, it is important that we remember to think hard before posting a comment about ourselves or someone else. Maybe you feel like making that comment to someone in the moment, but do you really want to embarrass that person or yourself by doing so? I chose to title my project “Wear Your Words”, which was inspired by the phrase “weigh your words”. Through this project, I want the students of John Carroll University to realize just how hurtful mean words can really be and what it feels like to be associated with these words, or even better, to have to wear them. I chose to create an event that would take place on campus, in the quad and in the auditorium. Students with a desire to attend must sign up. The day would start out in the auditorium, at 10:00, where an event leader would greet the attending students and explain the planned activities. Following, three willing teenagers who have struggled with cyber bullying would come share their story with the students. After that, around 11:30, the students would be relocated to the quad, where there would be tables set up with white t-shirts, black sharpie markers, and typed contracts. Free snacks would be passed around, such as pop corn and cotton candy, and decorations would be in place, such as balloons and posters. The three speakers would be at the quad to offer students the chance to meet them personally and ask any questions they have. In order to participate and take on the challenge, each student would have to take a shirt and a sharpie and write every mean word they could think of on their shirt, as well as their personal flaws and insecurities. After doing so, they would sign a contract stating that they must wear the shirt all day until everyone met again for dinner in private room around 4:00. The point of this activity is to show the students what is feels like to be exposed to others. As they walk around with that shirt on, everyone who crosses their path is able to read the words on their shirt, knowing their insecurities and self weaknesses. Having to feel like such negative words are apart of you and stuck to you is not a good feeling. By experiencing this feeling, students are encouraged to reconsider calling others out on social media for their insecurities and weaknesses and to not use negative or derogatory terms when referring to others, not just on social networking sites, but in general. At dinner, the students would write a reflection on how they felt about the challenge, which they would get to keep after.