POP CULTURE HERO COALITION, INC
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Mission Statement
Founded in 2013, Pop Culture Hero Coalition is the first-ever 501c3 organization that uses stories from TV and film to take a stand against bullying, racism, misogyny, LGBTQ-bullying and cyberbullying. Kids find these stories to be relatable and accessible. Our pop-culture-savvy clinical psychologists and world renowned experts work in schools in grades K-12, inspiring healing and restorative justice through stories from Star Wars, Supergirl, Batman, Wonder Woman, X-Men, The Avengers, Star Trek and more. We create, promote and foster a culture free from the injustice of bullying, cyberbullying, hate crimes and inequality based on gender, race, religion, socioeconomic status, sexual identity, physical/mental/learning disability, or any other perceived vulnerability. Partners: UNESCO, Yale Ctr for Emotional Intelligence, NOH8, United Nations Assn, Random Acts, Geena Davis Inst on Gender in Media. We are currently developing curriculum, to be given free of charge to schools that cannot afford this crucial work.
About This Cause
Pop Culture Hero Coalition creates and implements groundbreaking programs that educate and support kids to overcome bullying and other social injustice, and transform their struggles into strengths, using parallels from their favorite TV, comics and film. SCHOOL CURRICULUM Pop Culture Hero Coalition is developing thirty lesson plans under seven themes for grades K-12, including: • Embracing Differences and Diversity • Personal Growth • Value of Having Heroes • Overcoming Barriers to Heroic Action • Preventing/Responding to Social Conflict • Acting as a Witness or Ally • The Hero's Journey and You STUDENT IMPACT Many kids and teens have a hard time opening up in conversations about themselves but are able to draw parallels with their favorite characters’ issues. Participating students and teachers: • Know how to recognize and prevent the antecedents of bullying. • Know how to respond when instances of bullying occur. • Understand the procedure for reporting and following up on bullying incidents. Learn to create an inclusive, positive school climate. Engage in the principles of restorative justice, changing the bullies’ behavior, as well as creating healthy dynamics and relationships. Experience how fictional characters can inspire healing and acts of heroism over bullying, racism and misogyny in their schools and lives. Our work in schools teaches appreciation for diversity and solidarity, giving kids tools and creating school climates that cultivate: • Identity Development • Self-compassion • Empathy • Working Against Implicit Bias, Peer Pressure and Victim Blaming • Understanding the Bystander Effect • Becoming Allies for Provocative Targets • Choosing Healthy Relationships • Building Support Systems • Healthy Social Media Interactions • Value of Having Heroes • How to Safely be a Hero • Overcoming Barriers to Heroic Action Resources: How and Where to Find Help SYSTEMIC IMPACT Research shows that the cycle of bullying and other social injustice is perpetuated from one generation to the next, leading to a chronic lack of hope in countless communities and lives. Today’s children and teens are tomorrow’s voters, volunteers. donors, lobbyists, leaders and politicians. In creating school climates where diversity is valued and social justice is key, Pop Culture Hero Coalition can change the shape of the future, creating empathetic, ethical citizens who treat each other with equal respect. Research shows: Students’ ability to focus and learn is adversely impacted by bullying and discrimination, affecting test scores, grades, college admission and employment opportunities. Soft skills — such as empathy, resiliency, self-esteem, perseverance, self-control, tenacity and inclusivity — play an important role in shaping K-12 school attendance, student performance, college attendance, marriage, and economic futures (Chetty et al. 2011). Soft skills can be taught, but that the teachers who are effective at raising cognitive skills are not necessarily the same teachers who are effective at imparting soft skills. Skills measured as early as kindergarten have a positive impact on overall education and adult success. In teaching kids to see the world inclusively – using strategies that are both clinically proven and fun -- we are breaking the cycle of pain and oppression. For statistics and information on the dangerous effects of bullying, please see our website: http://www.popculturehero.org/why-do-we-do-this COMIC-CONS Pop Culture Hero Coalition was the first organization to hold programs for heroism over bullying at comic-cons (thirty comic-cons since 2013), as well as the first organization to hold a justice rally at a comic-con (San Diego Comic-Con, 2016), creating a groundbreaking intersection of pop culture fandom and social justice activism. We have been told we are saving lives with our programs at comic-cons, filling a need which has been remarkably unaddressed in that world: creating and fostering a climate of inclusivity, where each individual's innate value is recognized and celebrated, and childhood bullying is finally addressed, often decades after the incidents. Pop Culture Hero Coalition featured the UN, NOH8, Amnesty International, Kiva and the ADL on their first comic-con panels and at our booth. We sponsored the first NOH8 photo shoot ever to take place at a pop culture con (NY Comic-Con, 2014). Here are some of our innovative panels, which are attended by standing-room-only audiences of all ages: • Teaching Ourselves to be Heroes: Bully, Bystander, or Batman! • #SuperheroIRL • #EndBullying: Responding to Cruelty in Our Culture • LGBTQ Characters: Dying to Be on TV Social Media: Having Healthy Interactions CONCLUSION We love superheroes -- why not be one? There is enormous power for systemic change when we reach kids in ways they can hear: using stories they love! And there is wisdom in combining those stories with researched-based methods to combat school-age injustice. Who are the kids whose parents are at KKK rallies? Who are the kids whose parents are burning black churches, threatening Muslims or immigrants, or in any way leading the world’s climate of growing hate? And which kids are afraid of coming out as LGBTQ, for fear of being thrown out? Which girls’ lives and careers are stifled in schools that don’t encourage gender equality? Which kids are outcast and in so much pain they consider taking their own lives? We want those kids, before it’s too late. Because -- now, more than ever -- empathy is too seldom taught at home, Pop Culture Hero Coalition’s work to foster inclusivity and build empathy in schools is key to ending bullying and other injustice. We have the opportunity to teach inclusivity and resilience to kids in ways they can relate to -- before there are any more suicides, or broken hearts, or battered psyches due to bullying -- and we truly appreciate your support in this crucial work.