Derek E. Baird, M.Ed.

Calm the Vote: New BeMe Studios 2024 Election Streaming Series Aims to Ease Gen Z Election Jitters

I am excited to unveil a project I spearheaded as Chief Youth Officer at BeMe Health: our collaboration with Rock the Vote. By fusing BeMe’s expertise in youth mental health with Rock the Vote’s legacy in youth voter mobilization, we have crafted a unique approach for engaging youth in democracy during the 2024 election.

Our initiative is designed with a threefold goal: to empower first-time Gen Z voters to take action, to promote mental wellbeing during what can be a stressful period, and to boost non-partisan civic engagement.

But our mission extends beyond just motivating young adults to participate in elections; we equip them with the tools they need to navigate the electoral process with confidence and security.

As the project lead on this initiative, I’m excited to announce:

👉🏼 Our new voter engagement platform at BeMe.com/RocktheVote is now live! Starting today, potential voters can easily register to vote, check their registration status, pledge to vote, and request absentee ballots — all in one place powered by the Rock the Vote civic tech.

👉🏼 Our ‘Calm the Vote: A Gen Z Guide to the 2024 Election,’ a new BeMe Original series hosted by Juan Bendaña, aims to demystify the election process and provide mental health support for first-time voters.

Produced by BeMe Studios, this streaming series will roll out across all our social channels and is now available exclusively in the BeMe app.

👉🏼Available exclusively in the BeMe app, our unique Spark Sesh empowers youth to navigate challenging political conversations. This single-session intervention (SSI) equips youth with essential communication skills: engaging in meaningful dialogue, respecting diverse viewpoints, and preserving relationships during intense election periods.

Join us in making democracy less stressful and more accessible for Gen Z. Together, we can ensure that young voices are heard and supported throughout the 2024 election season and beyond.

 

Dear Transgender Kids: I Have Your Back

Dear LGBTQ+ Kids,

In the past few weeks, several states have introduced bills singling out LGBT and gender-diverse children. As a result of these bills, children and adolescents may be excluded from participation in school sports, banned from obtaining books and media that reflect their own lived experience, and restrict healthcare delivery for gender-diverse children and adolescents.

As a member of the education technology and children’s media communities, I have centered my professional life and career on children and teens' well-being. I have created media, lesson plans, and other kids' tween and teen content that encourages children to be inclusive, kind, and empathetic.

I Pledge To Fight For You.

• I recognize health care and your right to an education as basic human rights and I oppose any laws and regulations that discriminate against transgender and gender-diverse people, especially children and teens. I will fight for your right to health care.
  
  
• I feel that one of the best ways to show solidarity with transgender and gender-diverse children is to pledge to be an upstander ally and defender of your rights.
   
• I will continue to educate others on the principles of diversity, inclusion, and belonging so that they can imagine an alternative to bigotry and exclusion.
  
  
• I will fight for you to be seen and represented in books, film, and media. 

To transgender, LGBTQ+, and gender-diverse kids: I have your back.

Dear Evan Hansen, Teen Broadway fandoms, and Mental Health on Tumblr and Instagram

Dear Evan Hansen (DEH) is a social media-centric musical that has been widely celebrated by a show-specific online fan community, known as ‘Fansens’, on Instagram and Tumblr, having won the Tony Award for Best Musical in 2017. 

The growth of this fandom, on these platforms, is unique as Fansens have adopted plot points and thematic elements from the musical relating to how social media affects social anxiety, depression, and suicide to create fan art and fanfictions that, in turn, result in a community of care on social media where fans can discuss their own encounters with social anxiety, teen suicide and cyberbullying.

Though most Fansens would not have been able to see the musical performed on Broadway or live in-person, their fanfictions, personal posts, and fan art reflect and refract the difficulties that young people have with mental health, social anxiety, and suicide.

Using both digital methods and post-structuralist textual analysis, written by Derek E. Baird and Jarrod Walczer, analyses numerous fan cultural artifacts collected from DEH-specific hash-tagged posts on Tumblr and Instagram.

In doing so, this article provides a new perspective on the role that fan communities, their artifacts, their use of digital media, and their fan activist and upstanding techniques can play in providing avenues of self-care and modeling positive online support for those dealing with mental health issues.

By examining the emotional resonance between the characters, plot points, and music of DEH, and the fandom that spontaneously grew around it, we maintain that fandom studies scholars can gain a richer understanding of how visual media and fandom can be used to foster unity among young people and combat social issues both on social media and in the corporeal world.

You can read the full article here, or you can read a synopsis of our research over on Medium. You can access the full article on the Journal of Fandom website.

Nickelodeon #KidsTogether Guide: Talking With Kids About Coronavirus

 Kristen Bell is hosting a Nickelodeon special with a “kid’s-eye view” of the coronavirus pandemic to address youngsters’ concerns and help families weather the crisis, the channel said Friday.

Bell and her guests practiced social distancing, using video to connect for the hour long program airing 7 p.m. EDT Monday. Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, California’s surgeon general, and Dr. Vivek H. Murthy, former U.S. surgeon general, offer advice on how to be healthy, while kids and parents around the country share how they’re coping with disruption.

“I feel like right now, kids’ questions and worries might be getting overlooked,” the “Frozen” star said in explaining why she participated. “I wanted kids to feel empowered to ask questions, and create a place where they are heard.”

Because of the impact of COVID-19, kids and grown-ups alike may find themselves feeling more anxious or stressed than usual. Nickelodeon offers this guide to give kids, parents, and caregivers advice on ways to support each other in these difficult times.

Check out this guide on how to support each other in these difficult times.

 

LinkedIn For Good: Youth Development and Social Impact Programs

A recent study conducted by the U.S. Health and Human Services shows that youth aging out of foster care have very low levels of employment and earnings. As a result, many of these foster program youth will end up being homeless. It is estimated that there are currently 1 million homeless and displaced youth in America. Research conducted by the Boston University of Public Health found that a majority of homeless youth still have access to social media and technology.

One vital step we can take towards reducing the impact of aging out of foster care is to help them develop job skills, career resources and, most importantly, the mentoring required to assist them to find employment before they age out of the system. Doing so will greatly improve their both their employment and economic opportunity outcomes.

Ideally, this would be accomplished through 1:1 mentoring, but there are also lots of fantastic youth development resources available online, including on LinkedIn. While primarily designed for the wider youth demographic, these resources are especially relevant for youth currently in the foster care system.

LinkedIn for Students from LinkedIn for Good

LinkedIn has put together an impressive set of resources for youth--both in and out of the foster system--who are preparing to enter the workforce. Created as part of the LinkedIn for Good initiative, this set of social impact resources offers everything from tips on how to create a professional profile, to job seeker tips, best practices on how to network, finding a mentor, along with a huge catalog of online courses to learn new skills.

In 2017, LinkedIn for Good programs reached 1 million underserved youth, veterans, refugees, employees and nonprofits as part of their mission to unlock greater opportunity for all.

Instagram Celebrates Gen Z Change Makers at #KindnessProm

In addition to the anti-bullying comment filter announced yesterday, Instagram co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger announced that they are hosting the first ever #KindnessProm to celebrate young leaders who are inspiring their peers by helping kindness, acceptance and support grow on Instagram and in the world.

The prom is for students and “teen influencers” from around the country. It will be a “totally immersive, Instagrammable experience that focuses on positivity, kindness, giving back and community,” according to the Palm Beach Post.  Instead of choosing a prom king and queen, each guest will get a kindness award. Radio Disney Host and DJ Miss Lela Brown will play the music.

One of the teens invited to attend the Instagram Kindness Prom is Kayla Abramowitz, founder of Kayla Cares 4 Kids, a non-profit which supplies DVDs, video games, books, and craft supplies to children’s hospitals.

The Kindness Prom isn’t the first wellbeing initiative from Instagram to focus on teens, bullying, and social media. Last year Instagram launched the Instagram Together campaign which showcased their continued commitment to developing tools that address bullying, mental health, and other topics impacting tweens, teens and young adults.

 

• Related: Instagram pays it forward by throwing a "Kindness Prom" for teen influencers | ABC NEWS

It's Time to #EraseHate: For Blaze Berenstein. For Matthew Shepard. For Everyone

I was deeply touched by the death of Blaze Bernstein. Because it happened in my community, it seems so personal. It's shocking and still, honestly, very raw.

Nineteen years ago I stood in a park in remembrance of Matthew Shepard. Today I did it in memory of Blaze Bernstein. And while I hope I never have to do it again, if necessary, I will. I'll gather with strangers, hold a candle, place a stone to remember a life lost.

In many ways, it's felt like deja vu. So many years ago, it was Matthew. Now it's Blaze. How many more LGBTQ youth have to be murdered before it stops? I don't have the answer to that question. But in both cases, the mothers of these young men gave us a path forward: Do good. Be kind. Love each other. 

“As this began to unfold, we realized that we had an opportunity to set an example for people everywhere. To show them how even in the face of tragedy and loss, there is something better to concentrate on rather than bitterness, revenge, self-pity, and regret. We wanted people to embrace love, tolerance, and kindness, to do good. Our goal was to repair our broken world one child at a time, one kind act at a time, one day at the time.” — Jeanne Pepper-Bernstein, The Forward 

So, until the world isn't broken, go spread good and #DoGoodForBlaze!

LOVELOUD: Imagine Dragons Step Up for Utah's LGBTQ Teens

Dan Reynolds, lead singer of Imagine Dragons, announced the 2017 LOVELOUD concert on August 26th. The festival is designed to ignite the relevant and vital conversation of what it means to unconditionally love, understand, accept, and support LGBTQ+ youth in Utah communities.

Music can save lives, and that’s exactly what Dan Reynolds, lead singer of Imagine Dragons, intends to do. All across America, LGBTQ+ youth are plagued by high statistics of suicide, risky drug use, and bullying in schools.

In Utah, teen suicide remains the leading cause of teen deaths in the state. LGBTQ+ youth are more than eight times more likely to commit suicide when compared to their straight peers, and account for as much as 40% of the current homeless youth population.

Of this 40%, almost half of the youth cite family rejection, abuse, and abandonment as the leading cause. There’s no doubt that religion plays a major factor in a family’s decision to abandon and abuse their youth.

For this reason, Dan Reynolds, the lead singer of Imagine Dragons, has decided to take action by creating the LOVELOUD Fest, uniting musical artists and guest speakers in support and acceptance of LGBTQ youth.

“What can we do as a community to change these devastating statistics?”  - Dan Reynolds

“I have no power or authority to speak on how to fix this problem, but I have been lucky enough to be given a platform that can hopefully raise awareness and create respectful conversations that lead to positive change.” And that’s exactly what LOVELOUD Fest plans to do.

 

All proceeds from this concert will go to the LOVELOUD Foundation which lends support to various Utah-based charities such as Encircle and Stand4Kind, as well as national charities, such as The Trevor Project and GLAAD. Each one of these organizations are dedicated to promoting acceptance and providing much needed resources to LGBTQ youth. (HuffPost)

 

Related articles

National LGBTQ Suicide-Hotline Reports a 'Dramatic Spike' in Calls From Transgender Youth

Number of trans calls to suicide hotlines more than double after Trump's transphobic tweet

Imagine Dragons' Dan Reynolds Shares Emotional Anti-Bullying Message

Music Festival Benefitting LGBTQ Advocacy Groups Gets Surprising Endorsement from LDS Church - My Transgender Life

"Instagram Together" Showcases Mental Health

Instagram has launched an initiative called "Instagram Together" to showcase their continued commitment to developing tools that address bullying, mental health, and other topics impacting tweens, teens and young adults.

Teens and young adults are increasingly turning to social media platforms, like Instagram, to talk about their mental health struggles, so this is a much needed and welcome program.

As part of the Instagram Together campaign, several influential members of the community are showcased, sharing stories of how they use the Instagram ecosystem and hashtags (like #ItsOkayToTalk) to share their mental health journey with others to build (or find) a network of support.

Instagram is #HereForYou

As part of Mental Health Awareness month, Instagram announced a hashtag campaign called #HereForYou, which highlights how the social network has helped support its community members struggling with mental health issues.

 

Reporting Self-Harm on Instagram

Members of the community can also anonymously report others who they feel may be in need of mental health support.

The Self Harm Reporting feature allows users to report a mental health concern to Instagram and send the user a message with mental health resources in their country.  

These resources also display when someone visits a hashtag for a sensitive topic, like hashtags associated with self-harm, eating disorders, and suicide. 

This feature is very similar to the Facebook feature that allows people to report expressions of self-harm.

It's great to see Instagram taking active steps towards creating and fostering a safer, kinder experience by addressing the mental health, safety and well-being of their community. 

 

Related: How Texting Can Save Teen Lives

 

• If you want to talk to someone or are experiencing suicidal thoughts, text the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.

AMAZE.org: Sex Ed YouTube Videos for Teens, Parents and Teachers.

You know that talking with your kids about sex and growing up is important, but it’s tempting to put it off. The reality is that these conversations can’t wait. AMAZE.org takes the awkward out of sex ed. Real info in fun, animated videos that give you all the answers teens actually want to know about sex, your body and relationships.

Fun, Factual & Less Weird Sex Ed

AMAZE.org  is creating fun, factual and age appropriate online sex education videos for young adolescents. AMAZE has collaborated with a group of incredible young animators who are enthusiastic about their mission to create edgy, innovative and compelling videos to help young people learn about reproductive health.

The series of sex ed videos are being produced in conjunction with youth health organizations Advocates for Youth, Answer, and Youth Tech Health and animation studio, The Moving Company, to help break the ice and start these critical conversations so that kids get the accurate information they need. 

Accurate & Non Judgmental Sex Education

In a time where "fake news" fills our kids social feeds, AMAZE.or provides provides kids, parents and teachers a happy medium between accessible, engaging sex ed materials that don't deviate from the purpose of sex ed in the first place: To provide accurate, non-judgmental answers to curious questions.

I was fortunate to work with the AMAZE.org team as a youth and social media analyst during the early phases of this project and I was was really impressed with all the different stakeholders and educators involved to bring AMAZE.org to life.

AMAZE is providing a critical resource for parents and teens and these videos will really help make talking about sex ed, sexual orientation and puberty much less weird and help shift these discussions into a more open, healthy and normalized.

Be sure to check out all the videos on YouTube!

For Storyteller Branden Harvey, Changing the World Sounds Good

Meet Storyteller Branden Harvey

I'm a big fan of Branden Harvey. He first popped up on my radar during the early days of Snapchat, er, Snap Inc! At that time he was a crazy kid from Portland with a awesome hair cut and unbridled good energy and positive vibes. 

Then he traveled to Africa, using Snapchat and Instagram to share his adventures. And what adventures did he have! It was then I saw that Snapchat really was a powerful *storytelling* tool. Branden is a talented storyteller who combines his infectious brand of optimism, digital skills and social media presence to spread good in the world!

At a time when there's so much negativity and, frankly bullying on social media, it's so refreshing to have someone like Branden use his storytelling gift, passion for social media and photography to lift spirits and challenge us to look for the silver lining and good in other people, places and things. 

Sounds Good Podcast

He has a new podcast called, "Sounds Good." Every Monday he talks to people in the creative fields about their process, living authentically and sharing their advice and knowledge. It's fantastic. You can find "Sounds Good" on iTunes, SoundCloud and other podcast networks.

Every week I listen to "Sounds Good" and think, "That was my favorite episode." But this episode featuring Jessica is just a wee bit more special.

This week Branden sat down with Jessica Hische, an amazing lettering artist and author, who has worked with creatives like Wes Anderson, New York Times, American Express and many, many others. 

Brad Montague: "Don't Hide Your Magic"

IBrad Montague is the creator of Kid President, the popular web series featured on Rainn Wilson's Soul Pancake YouTube channel that has been viewed more than 16 million times.

With a passion for helping foster creativity and compassion in young people he is constantly creating new and unique ways to make the world a better and more childlike place.

In this podcast, Brad sits down with Branden Harvey, a storyteller, social media pioneer and doer of good deeds!

These are two of my favorite people, so it's great to have them together in the same podcast! Both Branden and Brad are really inspiring and it's such a treat to listen to them both talk about their creative process.

As a bonus, Brad shares the Kid President origin story (Hi, Kid Prez!) and a reminder to not to "Hide Your Magic." So sit back, relax and dream better dreams!

I AM THAT GIRL & Alessia Cara Launch "I AM YOU" Empowerment Campaign

Non-profit organization I AM THAT GIRL joins forces with 20-year old EP Entertainment/Def Jam Recordings global sensation Alessia Cara to create the “I AM YOU” empowerment campaign. The powerful message of Alessia’s new single “Scars To Your Beautiful” is the lynchpin behind her alliance with I AM THAT GIRL, the national movement that has been inspiring girls for the past six years to love, express, and be who they are through a global peer-to-peer community committed to creating a new norm for girl culture by raising the standard of how girls treat themselves.

“I AM YOU” launches with a short video directed by Kim Jacobs, which delivers the meaningful message of empowerment, strength and inclusivity using a striking visual. The piece, which is narrated by Alessia and features a musical soundbed from her powerful self-anthem, reinforces the message that while we have our own unique stories, we are all connected by the universal truths that make us human.

In the film, a rapid montage of girls of varied ages, sizes, and races flashes by, seamlessly composited together as if they are all speaking as one person, creating an extraordinary focal point for the singular voice that connects them all.

Jacobs shot around 50 young women over the course of one day, including a series of stills set to the playback track of the scripted voiceover. Most of the talent already were members of IATG chapters or volunteers, along with others who ended up taking the IATG pledge after wrapping the shoot.

“The stills were transcoded to feel like motion. Then the process of cutting between the faces required sensitivity, precision and a crazy amount of patience,” explains Jacobs. “Matching three girls blinking their eyes within a second of film is work for only warriors. We worked with the team at EXILE to fine-tune the edit until we finally struck the perfect balance of technique and humanity.”

“In any given second there are multiple faces cut to appear to be one person. I thought this would be a really strong and beautiful way to communicate the core ethos of I AM THAT GIRL,” says Kim Jacobs, who co-wrote the script with IATG Co-founder Emily Greener.

“It takes so many people to make something, especially in film, and all the people involved in every single part of the process were essential to the outcome. The I AM YOU film was generated from pure love.” - Kim Jacobs

 

“Scars To Your Beautiful” was not only used for the film, but also inspired IATG and Alessia to create an action-focused curriculum for young women everywhere, to shift girl culture and help them transform self-doubt to self-love. The conversation kit, which is downloadable at iamthatgirl.com/alessia, centers around five primary interactive meeting topics, each cued by a lyric from “Scars.”

 

 

How Kids Content Will Drive Adoption of Virtual Reality

I stumbled across this really terrific  article on the life cycle of virtual reality in the kids education and entertainment market--well worth reading for anyone involved in the kid/tween/teen media and education worlds. 

"Once the VR space takes hold, kids will ultimately become "world-smiths," as they create immersive social experiences utilizing powerful, easy-to-use tools found on 3D user-generated content platforms.

These platforms will empower children to create and distribute VR content for consumption by their peers."

 

 

Come on #TeamInternet! Stop the Cycle of Mean.

This morning I was shocked to read over on The Daily Beast that internet trolls were bullying the daughter of the late comedian, Robin Williams. What is wrong with people? Why would anyone think this is acceptable behavior to attack a grieving family or create images that are hurtful?

But here's the thing: Twitter and Instagram (and other online communities) can't do anything unless they know about it. So just like the post-9/11 mantra: If you see something, say something. If you see a cruel or mean comment on Instagram or Twitter---report it. Flag it. Stop the cycle of mean.

If you're part of these communities, it's your responsibility to help make it a safe and positive experience. Don't just scroll past the mean comments and think someone else will take care of it. Community management is difficult, for communities like Instagram it's a monumental task.

Be part of the solution and help squash the online trolls. Come on #TeamInternet, we are better than this. Stop the cycle of mean.

 

At a time when #TeamInternet could have harnessed its power for good by sending her and her family love and support, the trolls have brought more darkness into the lives of this grieving family.

I just can't fathom doing this to a family who is suffering such a huge loss under tragic circumstances. I have to believe that these evil trolls haven't personally been through the experience of losing a loved one. 

I just can't understand how anyone who has gone through that experience who would purposefully heap more suffering on to their broken hearts.

Youth Service America: New Resource to Fight Childhood Hunger

YSA (Youth Service America) – a national nonprofit that encourages and facilitates community service among youth. Published by YSA and Sodexo Foundation, A Teacher’s Guide to Engaging a New Generation of Anti-Hunger Leaders, demonstrates how addressing childhood hunger with students benefits the community and students.

It’s also an exciting opportunity for teens to present to their teachers who can use the guide’s tips to implement service-learning at school.

From leading food drives and fundraisers to successfully lobbying for school feeding programs, these teachers and their students are demonstrating significant increases in academic engagement while making a real difference in their communities. 

Featuring success stories and practical tips from K-12 teachers, the guide includes examples of alignment with Common Core and other academic state standards. 

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