SEAHO Report - Summer 2012 - (Page 10)

SEAHO FEATURE Actively Caring for Inclusive Excellence – The Lee Hall Experience – By: Kevin Wogenrich Residential Learning Coordinator Virginia Tech There are 86,400 seconds in a day and it takes only a few seconds to perform an act of kindness and potentially change someone’s life forever. Hi, hello, thank you, you matter, and you are important are some of the most powerful words and phrases in the English language that have become far too infrequent between strangers and even friends. Somewhere along the line they were replaced in our vocabulary with you are stupid, not good enough, not like us, or different. Many of today’s anti bullying programs attempt to address the issue head on by attacking the act of bullying itself rather than teach students civility, selfworth, and the genuine worth of every human being. While working at Virginia Tech this past year I was lucky enough to become involved in a program that seeks to flip that script. It is built on the principal that together we can change the world with small acts of kindness. I would like to introduce you to that program and the effect that it has had on my building this past academic year. Actively Caring for People (AC4P) was developed by Virginia Tech psychology professor Dr. E. Scott Geller, in the aftermath of April 16, 2007. This program is designed to prevent future tragedies from happening not only at Virginia Tech, but wherever the program can ripple to. The concept behind the program is similar to that of “paying it forward,” but through the recognition of random acts of kindness. By recognizing and reinforcing the good acts people do on a daily basis the program hopes to prevent bullying and other hateful acts from occurring. The symbol for the program has become the green wristbands that are given out as a tangible sign of this recognition. The process for the program is four simple words: See, Act, Pass and Share. First, when wearing a wristband you need to see a random act of kindness. The acts of kindness have no limits. Acts 10 of kindness can range from holding a door open for someone carrying a box, to consoling someone who just lost a loved one. Next, the person wearing the wristband must Act. This is sometimes the hardest part of the program because, for some, it is extremely hard to walk up and start a conversation with an unfamiliar person. You would then thank them for caring, and explain to them the concept behind AC4P. Next, you pass that wristband, that tangible recognition, along to the individual that took time out of their day to care for someone. Finally, you share. Each wristband has a number associated with it so that the story of the wristband can be tracked and you can see the impact you have had by paying it forward. At the beginning of this year Lee Hall was selected to participate in a graduate research initiative with graduate research assistant Shane McCarty, from the center for Peace Studies and Violence Prevention at Virginia Tech. His group conducted research to see what kind of impact AC4P could have on a residential community. Initially slated to be a smaller study, areas of the building were selected to approach active caring through different means. Some wore the wristbands just to raise awareness. Others were only allowed to recognize students on their respective residence hall floor. While others were allowed to carry out the program as intended or did not participate at all. Little did we know that this initial division would have such a noticeable impact. After the first week students reacted in a variety of ways. The floor that was designated to just wear the wristband was eager to be able to give it away and participate fully. The floor that was able to hand it out only to residents on the same floor had transitioned from a quiet more reserved floor to a vibrantly social and engaged community. One floor that was allowed to participate in the full program had rallied around SEAHO Report Summer 2012

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SEAHO Report - Summer 2012