Cartoon Network is expanding its award-winning, “Stop Bullying: Speak Up” campaign by partnering with 826 National to launch the Inclusion Storytelling Project, which encourages youth across the country to share their individual stories about kindness and empathy in an effort to stop bullying before it starts.
Working in collaboration with Cartoon Network, 826 National and its network of eight internationally celebrated youth writing organizations created inclusion-themed writing workshops for elementary and middle school students to inspire stories of compassion and understanding. Hundreds of students from the 826 Network participated in the project, and the students’ fiction and nonfiction stories will be compiled into eight illustrated publications. Each of the 826 Network chapters will host a local book release event, during which these young authors will share their work with the community.
“Many of the students we serve at 826 come from traditionally under-resourced communities that are most affected by our changing political and cultural landscape,” said Laura Brief, CEO of 826 National. “We believe our students have the power and perspective to end a pervasive culture of bullying, and we are so excited to partner with Cartoon Network in sharing their stories and voices on a national scale.”
The 826LA Echo Park location will be the first of eight chapters to release and celebrate student work from the Inclusion Storytelling Project with an event on Thursday, December 7 from 2:45-4:15pm. Additional 826 locations (San Francisco, Ann Arbor/Detroit, Boston, Chicago, New York City, and Washington, D.C.) will hold release events respectively, into early next year.
“Elevating kids’ voices is central to everything we do at Cartoon Network. Equipping each kid with tools and resources to use their individual voice to speak up is a key goal of Stop Bullying: Speak Up,” said Jill King, senior vice president, marketing and partnerships, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim and Boomerang. “826 National is an organization that values children as a creative force as much as we do, and by developing the Inclusion Storytelling Project together, we are encouraging kids to use creativity to understand and spread kindness, compassion, and empathy.”
To expand the reach of this partnership and inspire other kids to share their stories, the lessons created through the project will also be made available to teachers everywhere in 2018 via 826 Digital, the 826 National’s pay-what-you-wish online platform of resources for educators.
