ADL Awarded “Digital Footprints” PSA from Righteous Conversations Project to Educate Youth About Cyberbullying

  • February 23, 2016

Watch the PSA now:  Digital Footprints

On February 17, the Righteous Conversations Project — an initiative of the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust — awarded ADL’s A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE® Institute a public service announcement (PSA) entitled “Digital Footprints” that was created as part of the project this year.  The Righteous Conversations Project facilitates dialogue, social action and collaborative creative work connecting students with Holocaust Survivors. In workshops and engagements developed in collaboration with schools and community organizations, the Project provides students with opportunities to carry on the work of Holocaust Remembrance and to speak up about injustice in the world around them through film and new media.

Given ADL’s longstanding commitment to combatting cyberbullying and cyberhate, the Pacific Southwest Regional Office was honored to accept the PSA from the Righteous Conversations Project.  “Digital Footprints” was created by students in the 7th grade Limudim program at IKAR following a semester-long workshop and drives home the point that we should always “think before we post.”

Dave Reynolds, Project Director for ADL’s A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE® Institute accepted the award on behalf of ADL and shared the following with the students, Holocaust survivors and community members present:  “We know that bullying, cyberbullying, and prejudicial attitudes are often times linked, and when bullying and cyberbullying are not addressed in a community, those attitudes and the related behaviors can and do escalate into discrimination, violence and worse.  The internet has changed the way that people can hurt each other—making it more instantaneous, far-reaching and allowing the aggressors to hide from seeing the targeted person’s reactions to their harmful behavior.  That is why it is so important to create more welcoming and affirming online spaces for everyone.”

ADL plans to incorporate the PSA into cyberbullying prevention programs in the region and to share the students’ work nationally so other ADL offices can educate youth and adults on the importance of “thinking before one posts.”    To learn more about ADL’s A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE® Institute or to schedule a program, contact Dave Reynolds at dreynolds@adl.org or (310) 446-8000.