Service Learning Proposal for Anti-Cyber Bullying Initiative in association with Young Women Leaders Program
By Megan Kaczmarek
February 14, 2012
Meredith Tweed
WST 3371
Community Partner Profile -
Community Partner: Young Women Leaders Program at the University of Central Florida
Address: 4000 Central Florida Blvd., P.O. Box 161994, Orlando, FL 32816
Contact: Maria Roman - ywlp@mail.ucf.edu
Community Partner Mission Statement: “The Young Women Leaders Program is a mentoring program sponsored by the UCF Women’s Studies Program. YWLP originated at the University of Virginia, and UCF launched the program in the Orlando community. YWLP promotes middle school girls’ leadership abilities, pairing collegiate women with middle school girls. In mentoring pairs and small groups of Big and Little Sisters, participants focus on learning competence and autonomy, independent thinking, empowerment, self-esteem, and encouraging girls to think about their futures.” (Young Women Leaders Program)
Political and/ or Social Base for the Organization: This semester, YWLP is undertaking a project called “Leading Out Loud.” The project “works by teaching YWLP Little Sisters to become peer advocates at their local middle schools. The girls will lead an anti-bullying day at their middle school in late March and work with their Big Sisters and schools to become leaders in their community by empowering other students to stand against aggression. The project culminates in a field trip to the University of Central Florida (UCF), where the Little Sisters will work with UCF faculty, students, and their Big Sisters to host workshops for local fifth grade boys and girls.” (“UCF College of Arts and Humanities Events”)
Needs of the Organization: On February 18th, YWLP is hosting a fundraiser called Slam Dunk For School Safety, to raise money for the workshops at UCF. The official event page states: “The YWLP LOL project currently has been awarded a grant for the project but must raise even more money to ensure that students are not prohibited from attending the event because of cost. The extra money will cover the remaining food related costs for the anticipated 150 students attending the field trip.” (UCF CAH Events) Along with fundraising for the YWLP LOL event, volunteers will be needed to assist with various tasks at the UCF workshops.
Proposal –
The Problem: Bullying has become an epidemic among youth culture today. In recent years the accessibility of texting and social media, such as MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, and blogs, has precipitated a terrible trend of cyber-bullying. The Internet has allowed bullies to virtually harass their victims without limits. Cyber bullying has pushed many teenage victims to commit suicide. (NPR) Something needs to be done to help stop this trend, before more lives are senselessly lost. Although adults can petition and pass legislation, it ultimately comes down to educating and empowering children and teenagers to take the initiative and stop bullying within their own social structures and online communities.
The Plan: This service learning project will address cyber-bullying in two ways. The first will be a blog focusing on girls and digital literacy. The blog will contain the following, but is not limited to, content:
· Research based articles on cyber-bullying
· Links to professional resources and help with cyber-bullying
· Zines
· Video Blogs and PSAs
· Articles, essays, and other contributions from young women
· A section on the YWLP LOL workshops
The second section of the project will be a digital literacy workshop for young women, given by Alexa Nelen and myself. I will specifically be speaking about cyber-bullying at this workshop.
Rationale for Women’s Studies:
Bullying stifles the creativity and growth of young women. Many girls feel marginalized and lose their voices, to peer pressure and societal expectations from a patriarchal society. While suicide is a horrific consequence of bullying, the loss of confidence and expression in young women is tragic and unacceptable. Girls are taking the path of least resistance, to avoid being tormented mentally, and sometimes physically. The opinions and voices of young women matter to feminist leadership, because these young women are the leaders of tomorrow. If they feel marginalized and powerless now, how will they develop good leadership skills? Women need to be the allies of girls. (Baumgardener and Richards 174-176) Bullying is a problem that is not easily resolved or fixed, because it is a systemic issue that permeates youth culture and vast expanses the Internet. As the allies of young women, we can support, empower, and encourage them to become leaders among their peers in the fight against bullying. Through increased digital literacy, they will also be able to take leadership initiative on the virtual front, as well.
Steps to Completion:
It is my intention to become a member of the YWLP research team, to not only provide support to what YWLP needs but also to have material on which to compose articles and contributions to the blog. The blog and digital literacy workshop will be created with Alexa Nelen. We are currently still working on arranging a space, time, and audience for the workshop. If no physical space is available, we will use the Internet to live chat or create a webinar. I will be volunteering with YWLP at the LOL workshops, and I will later blog about in detail.
Time Line:
Week of February 20: Create, design, and bring blog online
Before February 28:
· Complete training required to become a researcher
· Write at least 2 postings on cyber-bullying, along with completing “other resources page”
· Make a call for submissions from young women to the blog
Week of February 27:
· Determine length and exact content of digital literacy workshop
Before Spring Break:
· Complete rough draft of workshop
· Post at least 4 articles
· Post any submissions
After Spring Break:
· LOL workshop
· Write up on LOL workshop
· TBA – Digital Literacy Workshop
Following DLW: post video of workshop on blog
"1st Young Women Leaders Program’s Slam Dunk For School Safety Basketball Fundraiser." UCF College of Arts and Humanities Events. University of Central Florida, n.d. Web. 14 Feb 2012. http://www.cah.ucf.edu/events.php?id=1901
"About YWLP." Young Women Leaders Program. University of Central Florida, n.d. Web. 14 Feb 2012. http://womensstudies.cah.ucf.edu/ywlp/index.php
Baumgardener, Jennifer, and Amy Richards. Manifest: Young Women, Feminism, and the Future. 1. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2000. 174-176. Print.
"Teens who have committed suicide after being bullied online." NPR. NPR, 2010. Web. 14 Feb 2012. <http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130248877>
