It’s My Life Campaign


            In today’s society it is almost impossible for a teenager to abstain from drugs, sex, and alcohol. The world’s view of drugs, sex, and alcohol makes us believe that it is okay to participate in these risky behaviors. We get constant views in the media of sex and drugs. Especially in the music that we listen to and what we watch on television.

 

Even though many teens are participating in these risky behaviors a majority of them are not. I am in the majority. I am ready to face the world despite the many temptations that are presented to me every day. Many African American teenage females such as myself are the victims of the worst stereotypes. Many people believe we are doomed to fail since given the fact that the majority of teenagers have to drop out because we have a high rate of pregnancy.

 

I am ready for the world because I have been faced with many temptations of society and I have made the decision to be different. I surround myself around people that want the best for me. This whole summer I worked with Peer’s Project to help mentor people my age and younger and to help them to choose to live a healthier lifestyle like I did. Therefore I am ready for the world. 

By: LaSeptra Campbell , Tindley High School Juniorlasaeptra

It’s My Life

chaseThe PEERS Project has partnered with Radio One to share the stories of several teens and how they choose to live healthy lifestyles. You can hear these stories at: www.youtube.com/peersproject

PEERS has thousands of teen leaders like these around the state who are choosing to avoid risky behaviors. For the next four weeks we will share their stories here.

As a child we were pushed on the swing by our mother, father or a parent figure. For me it was my mother whom always pushed me on the swing. “I’ll give you one underdog then you got to swing by yourself: Ready… set…go,” she shouts as she pushes me as high as she could, and then makes a sudden run under me. Then to the park bench she goes to watch her “little birdy” swing by herself.

Learning how to swing by yourself without that head start of an underdog can be rough at first, but once you get the swing of things it seems pretty simple. You have to learn to be ready for the world even if you don’t feel as if you are quite ready yet. Learning to push yourself can seem as if one of the hardest challenges in the world, but in the end all you really have is yourself and your own two feet to lead you, or swing you as high as you wish to go.

Joining the Peers Project has made me realize that I’m not alone. I may have struggled to push myself as high as I could but I did it, I succeeded. There are many kids who went through or are going through the same things. You’re never alone. I’m ready to jump off the swing and walk by myself. Therefore I am ready for the world and whatever it has to offer for me.

by: Chase-Marie Rider, 17

SUIT UP to fight bullying

danny keefeIn The PEERS Project our PEER Leaders – teen instructors- work hard to teach others to stand up against bullying. PEER Leaders do this through teaching in the classroom how to be assertive with bullying through our three assertiveness techniques. More importantly, PEER leaders live a life where they stand up for those who are being bullied and are bully preventers, not just bully bystanders.

Here is one story to share how youth stood up to fight bullying. Shortly after birth, Danny Keefe suffered a brain hemorrhage that left him with a speech impediment so severe that the meticulously dressed six-year-old found himself being teased and picked on in kindergarten… but, not for long, because Danny’s friends on the Bridgewater Badgers 5th grade football team had his back. They didn’t rough anybody up, which one might have expected.
Instead, they put on a display of solidarity and brotherly love that moved an entire community, and started a movement that quickly spread to surrounding towns. www.danimalsarmy.org

Attention PEERS Teen Leaders, Win 4 Tickets to Indy Eleven Soccer Game

Indianapolis is now known as a town that loves soccer since being named the home for the American professional soccer team, Indy Eleven.  Founded in 2013, the team will make its debut in the North American Soccer League in 2014.[1] The official club name, crest and colors were announced on April 25, 2013.

The PEERS Project teen leaders have the incredible opportunity to actually go to one of these sell-out home games. In partnership with Inspired Kids Magazine, PEER Leaders can submit any of their art, videos and writings at  InspiredKidsMagazine and enter a chance to win 4 tickets.

 

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Orange Leaf to give 100% proceeds to PEERS

The PEERS Project is excited to announce that we were selected by the Orange Leaf yogurt store in Broad Ripple to be their non-profit community partner for their grand opening.

The Grand Opening at the Broad Ripple Orange Leaf is this Saturday, March 22. Orange Leaf is giving away 2 Kindle Fire tablets, tickets to the Drive-By Truckers concert at the Vogue, Gift Cerificates, shirts, OL …SWAG … live music, face painter & stuff for the kids, FREE Froyo sundaes from 2-5. BOGO sundaes 6-8 …. also, it is opening night for Broad Ripple’s news art gallery ArtSpace @ Orange Leaf featuring the work of David Crowe. So please come and hang out, get some froyo, check out some art and have some fun!

Hope to see you there eating some free yogurt on Saturday, March 22nd! 100% proceeds goes to PEERS.

Overflowing_NewCupLowRes                  orange leaf flyer

Reality T.V. , Helpful or Hurtful?

You have seen the “ridiculousness” of most reality TV shows, but why do some people, especially teens, still choose to watch them? Reality TV is a very narrow peek into the lives of people who have an unrealistic reality, in fact, most of their lives are written by a producer. These cast members are to do one thing with those lives, make sure it is drama filled so that they make money through that drama. The reputation of most reality TV show cast members is demolished by the finale of their first season. Honestly, the problem lies not only with the producers or cast members, but the audience. It is the audience that allows these shows to have numerous amounts of views. The audience are the people unintentionally saying to those cast members and producers, “Ignorance is bliss, so keep at it!” But their ignorance shouldn’t be bliss, it is disturbing and degrading, not only for them, but to the audience that they are targeting. Take for instance the 16-year-old girl who thinks she is not pretty enough, and watches a reality TV show for the first time and instantly gets hooked. That 16-year-old girl is now being influenced by women who wear tons of make-up and are praised by the media because of their “beauty,” when in actuality it’s as fake as their lives portrayed on their show. That 16-year-old girl and many other girls and women like her are being lied to and influenced by the negative influences suggested through reality TV. It is vital that we don’t allow producers to tell us what we should look like, or the lifestyle(s) we should admire, but that we are confident enough in ourselves to say that we are much greater than that.

PEERS in the News

The PEERS Project and uLEAD had an amazing day working with 300 students in Clay County’s School Corporation leading an anti-bullying retreat.

ulead group photo in brazil times
Students learn how to work as a team in Clay County with The PEERS Project and uLEAD

Read more here: Northview students take part in anti-bullying program

Welcome PEERS Intern!

nicole mcdonaldThe PEERS Project would like to welcome Nicole McDonald to our staff as she works with us over the 2013-2014 school year.

Nicole is from Herron High School and participated in PEERS last school year, Herron’s first year to implement The PEERS Project.

Nicole says that, “PEERS has shown me that I have a voice and that doing what is right is a character choice I need to always embody.”

We’re looking forward to a great year together!

Y.O.L.O.
yolo, peersproject, goals, media, peer pressure
You Only Live Once

Have you ever heard of the term or saying, “YOLO”? YOLO means, “You Only Live Once.” Kind of dumb isn’t it? I agree. Well people first started hearing YOLO when Drake, a hip hop artist, first said it in his hit song, The Motto in late 2012. When people, such as teens first heard it, it became very catchy. It was also being played a lot on the radio. Which is how the media gets your attention by repeating those catchy jingles.  It was more directed towards teens. Teens began to use YOLO as an excuse for everything. For example, a teen could hit a car in a parking lot and think it would be okay. Then that’s when they yell the term, YOLO. Basically YOLO means do everything to the extreme because you might not be alive to do it tomorrow. That term was taken  way  out of control. The term also figured out its way to be apart of every sentence in someway. YOLO was a daily and frequently used word once it was first heard in Drake’s song, “The Motto”. The term YOLO was then featured on clothing, hats, and even phone cases. This was all in the hands of teens who thought it was so cool and began to come more popular.

If you do use the motto YOLO make sure that you are truly ceasing the moment through making good choices and not living once to just choose destructive behavior. A bad choice could not only affect your life forever but could also hurt someone else…even death.

Guest blog by: Jalen, 17 years