ADVENTURES IN RESPECT
Community Initiatives reflect our commitment to social responsibility. They represent sustained effort by our Y to raise funds and awareness to deal with important community concerns.
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
IMPACT:
BULLYING PREVENTION
Adventures in Respect (AIR) is our Y’s bullying prevention initiative run in collaboration with area schools. The program is designed to address the increasing problem of bullying in and outside of school. The program includes unique, interactive team-building and has received high praise from participants, educators and administrators. Since its inception, Adventures in Respect has engaged thousands of middle school students, with 88.9% of participants reporting a better understanding of bullying and a deeper appreciation for respecting their peers. 95% of respondents said they have increased their own personal acceptance of differences in classmates after participating in AIR.
“Adventures in Respect is great for our students because it helps them learn to respect and communicate with one another as well as build trust in themselves and their peers. It has definitely improved the culture within our school.” – School Administrator
THE COMMUNITY NEED: According to a MetroWest Adolescent Health Survey conducted by the Health and Human Development Division of the Education Development Center, there are indicators that bullying is on the rise in the MetroWest Region. Bullying victimization increased over a two-year period from 44% in 2006 to 49% in 2008, and bullying on school property increased from 39% to 43% over the same period.
Nearly half of all middle school youth have been victims of bullying, as 49% were bullied in the past 12 months, and 43% were bullied on school property. One in three youth report they have bullied others. An estimated 160,000 children in the U.S. miss school every day due to fear of being bullied.
OUR YMCA’S RESPONSE: Bullying among school age children is a prevalent and significant problem, which we are in a position to address. With the support of the CVS Health, we are able to impact thousands of children from across our 15-town service-area through the Hockomock Area YMCA’s Adventures in Respect program.
SUPPORT THE Y.
The Reach Out for Youth and Families Annual Campaign is the primary vehicle in subsidizing confidential scholarship assistance and subsidized programs such as Adventures in Respect.
ADVENTURES IN RESPECT
ADVENTURES IN RESPECT PROGRAM HISTORY: The Hockomock Area YMCA works in collaboration with area schools to deliver a variety of programs and services including a team building program offered at no cost to the students utilizing our high and low ropes challenge courses. We combined the existing goals of our ropes challenge course programs with the new anti-bullying legislation and collaborated with schools to develop bullying prevention plans.
PROGRAM OVERVIEW: Adventures in Respect takes place over the course of one full day at our YMCA or on school grounds. The curriculum combines elements of the experiential learning model with current bullying prevention theory and research. The main goal of this initiative is to aid schools in creating a more positive, caring, and safe learning environment for all students at local middle schools. The strengths-based resiliency curriculum focuses on building and further developing the internal assets of positive values, social competencies, and positive identity development as core components.
PROGRAM RESULTS: Research along with our own experience shows that the majority of students are not directly involved in bullying situations, but are merely bystanders. Our approach is based on the theory that this majority can be transformed into a “caring community.” We believe that by creating an environment where students have increased empathy and caring for one another, students become more resilient and bullying behaviors are reduced.
SUPPORTING BULLYING PREVENTION PROGRAMS
CVS Health is the presenting sponsor for Adventures in Respect. In 2018, with the support of CVS Health, 3,563 middle school students across 12 YMCA communities participated in Adventures in Respect.
The program includes high and low ropes course elements and instills the importance of respect and understanding of one another while teaching students how to recognize and react to bullying situations.
“We admire the Hockomock Y’s innovative approach to problem solving and its willingness to think creatively. Not only is the Y innovative and collaborative, they think proactively and look to solve problems before they become problems. We are proud to be part of that,” says Eileen Howard Boone, CVS Health’s Senior Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility and Philanthropy.
Our Adventures in Respect program depends on community support, including donations and volunteers.
