DYS Alumni Spotlight: THE SML PROJECT
December 20, 2019
The SML Project by Xavier Ateneo – Development Communications Society wins again in this year’s Mano Amiga x Facebook’s Digital Youth Summit (DYS). It’s the group’s second time to join DYS. This year, they proposed the #YouDoNote Cyberbully campaign to communicate to their audience what not to do on social media platforms.
“We aim to lower or zero out hate speech and fake news online specially for our target audience who are senior high school students,” the group said.
The #YouDoNote campaign was inspired by the viral video of the “You do note” girl. The team is riding on the popularity of the catchphrase to attract audiences, and live up to its goal. The campaign aims to address two online issues, cancel culture and cyberbullying, by building a safe space online and raising awareness through videos and online narratives.
They will also be launching the “My #SafeSpace story,” – an online initiative to encourage victims of bullying to step forward and tell their story in a safe online space, and to show bullies that they are not afraid of speaking their truth, without stepping on anyone’s toes.
SML aims to target teens ages 15 to 18. They are kicking off the campaign with students in their partner schools in Cagayan de Oro, with eventual plans of bringing their campaign to a national scale. Their use of infographics and posters to promote digital literacy aims to educate young users on digital citizenship and authenticity with a lighthearted approach.
The SML Project will also have on-ground initiatives. In 2020, they will be resuming their school-to-school digital literacy caravan, in order to reach an even wider audience. Using the #DigitalTayo modules from Facebook, the SML Project hopes to train and encourage more young people from Cagayan de Oro to work together with them in building positive digital communities.
