Social change can be accomplished by one person. Rosa Parks said “no” to giving up her seat, Malala Yousafzai demanded that girls be allowed to receive education, Oskar Schindler helped people escape Nazi Germany, and, before he had millions of supporters marching behind him, Martin Luther King Jr. spoke to one person about his dream.

 

Each of these acts defied the status quo and brought awareness to necessary social change. These individuals did more than think or theorize their plans….they acted, behaved!

 

With The Good Observer Project, we want to empower YOU to become an agent of social change by observing and reinforcing acts of goodness within your environment.

 

You were given this red string to wear as a bracelet on your right wrist as a symbol of commitment to social change.  You have two red strings, one to wear, and one to pass on to an individual that you observe engaging in an act of goodness such as:

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• Return a lost item to the owner

• Pick up trash and put it in the waste basket

• Help someone cross the street

• Help a peer with classwork

• Hold the door for someone

• Stop the elevator door from slamming on someone

• Help someone pick something up if they dropped it

• Let someone know their backpack is open

• Get into a leadership position to promote a good cause

• Volunteer to take on work for a group

• Reach out to someone who looks like they may not be having a good day

• Help someone who is lost on campus

• Translate for someone

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Be a part of a movement! For inspiration, check out the "Actively Caring for People Project" started by Dr. Scott Geller, a Distinguished Professor at Virginia Tech and Director of the Center for Applied Behavior Systems, and his students. They also sought to bring about personal responsibility and behavior-change. See the impact of the project by going to http://www.ac4p.org/

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