The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division of Violence Prevention (DVP) is working to increase awareness, understanding, and commitment to violence prevention in a new “Tell Us About Your Hero” video series. The series will highlight people performing extraordinary acts of heroism in an effort to shift the culture and change the context in which violence occurs. Stories may focus on preventing violence types such as suicide, child abuse and neglect, sexual violence, intimate partner violence, elder abuse, bullying, or could be crosscutting about preventing multiple violence types. Look at how the heroes you know are using ACEs science to help prevent violence.
What The CDC Needs By March 31, 2018:
Compelling stories of people who prevent violence from happening where they live, learn, or work. They want impactful personal stories of people working to increase protective factors and reduce risk factors to prevent violence. These stories can include but are not limited to:
- A community champion who addresses violence and embraces violence prevention efforts.
- Potential example: Group of students at GSU are working to change social norms on campus to reduce sexual violence by doing X, Y and Z activities. [Promotes social norms that protect against violence]
- About the person, organization/program, policy or hero, who protected them or prevented the violence from occurring.
- Potential example: State senator sponsors a bill requiring flexible telework and leave policies for parents with young children. [Strengthens economic supports for parents]
- Family members of those affected by particular violence types and those who helped them through the challenges.
- Potential examples: A mother and father who experienced ACEs were preparing to have their first child. Recognizing the need to stop the generational cycle of ACEs, they sought parenting classes early, requested home visitation services, and connected to community resources. (Aligns with CAN: Enhance Parenting Skills to Promote Healthy Child Development & Intervene to Lessen Harms and Prevent Future Risk)
- A family notices teenage child struggling at school, dealing with bullying, and feeling down. They provide emotional support, reach out to their school about peer norms programs, and contact a counselor to work on parenting and coping skills (Promotes Connectedness; Teaches Coping and Problem-Solving Skills; Creates Protective Environments)
How You Can Help - Submit your entry by March 31, 2018
- Write a brief note/storyline explaining why you think the individual or group should be featured. Be sure to include the violence type(s) (i.e., suicide, child abuse or neglect etc.) with the submission, and how the hero or heroes are using ACEs science in this work.
- Send the note/storyline and violence type to Cole Youngner, Project Director at Banyan Communications, cyoungner@banyancom.com and copy Carey Sipp at ACEs Connection – csipp@acesconnection.com Please make your submission by March 31, 2018.
- Following your submission, a Banyan Communications representative will contact you to gather more information about your idea. If selected, Banyan will then reach out to your nominee for an interview. All potential nominees will be vetted before final approval.
Please note, all submissions will be reviewed to ensure a broad array of stories showing protective factors in action are represented across the many violence types. However, not all submissions will result in a story.
About “Tell Us About Your Hero” Video Series
Violence is preventable. Hearing from people who prevented violence, and those who helped them, can inspire others to take action.
The “Tell Us About Your Hero” series will provide target audiences visual, first-person accounts of people helping to create healthy relationships and communities. The series will also help audiences understand that preventing violence is possible; assess risk and protective factors for violence; and identify potential partner organizations already working in violence prevention.
The series helps to fill a much-needed gap for first-person storytelling. Traditionally, public health stories have been told in the form of data and treatment approaches. “Tell Us About Your Hero” is a new, compelling way to learn about violence prevention and expand the commitment to violence prevention across the country.
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