“Change Starts With Me” Campaign To Launch

Family Centre is launching a media campaign designed to inspire the Bermuda public to think about the power we each have for making a big difference in the lives of young people by changing simple things about the way we think and behave.

The “Change Starts with Me” campaign challenges everyone to consider “being the change that starts the change” by first acknowledging that we cannot ask someone else to be their best if we do not start with ourselves.

Martha Dismont, Executive Director of Family Centre explained, “the campaign will begin by sharing the stories of local individuals who have made ordinary changes in their own lives that had a profound impact on those around them.”

Mrs. Dismont added that the campaign will be featured at a Social Services convening on a National Children’s Agenda of Priorities on Thursday, November 20th, the day chosen by the United Nations as “Universal Day of the Child”.

Mrs. Dismont explained the strategy and intent of this campaign. “Every society has a responsibility to examine the culturally and socially permitted forms of emotional neglect of children that they silently inherit from their traditions and past generations. Emotional neglect leaves many children in a position where they lack the confidence to develop in healthy ways.

“That leads to a lack of self-worth, making them vulnerable to dropout [lacking the confidence to overcome obstacles], teen pregnancy [seeking the unconditional school love of an infant], gangs [seeking the acceptance of a peer group], addiction [self-medicating pain and despair] and crime [finding alternative means of income and being easily manipulated by others with bad intent].

“We want to sound a wakeup call to Bermuda that the needs of children are often unmet – regardless of one’s socioeconomic background. Parents typically act in subconscious ways that reflect their own upbringing and the norms of their ‘culture’ [both family and general culture]. This means that negative and positive norms are self-perpetuating.”

The campaign has been developed with the donated creative support of RBK Advertising and Design to spark individual action as the best source of building sustainable change for society. Support for the campaign has been provided by the Royal Gazette and HSBC.

Judy Doidge, Corporate Secretary, HSBC and executive representative for HSBC’s partnership with the Family Centre, added, “We have supported Family Centre for many years and we share their vision of a healthy society rooted in healthy childhood and strong families.

“Currently, HSBC is supporting Family Centre’s Homework Academy, Parent Education Workshops and Family Forum programmes and as part of the HSBC Staff Volunteer Community Action Day Programme, HSBC employees regularly volunteer to help students in the Homework Academy programme. The Change Starts With Me campaign has a great message that calls upon all of us to do better and we are pleased to be able to help in delivering this important message to everyone in our community.”

Family Centre Director of Services, Dr. Sandy DeSilva added, “In our work with families, we see how difficult it is to truly change behaviors that were learned in childhood and were passed down through generations. Our client families are courageous people who have taken on the challenge of looking at themselves and where their own behaviors, beliefs and practices may be compromising the healthy development of their children.

“The community has a huge impact on people as they try to make change. When our beliefs and comfort zone mirror our peers and family members, it is nearly impossible to take a stand for something new and alternative, even if we know we must. We owe it to those families to encourage the larger community to participate in changes that will allow us to take a collective leap toward new parenting and child care norms that better respond to the needs of children and young people who are finding their identity and purpose in the 21st century.”

The campaign’s aim is to challenge people to devote more time, attention and respect to the children in their care and influence the way that all adults speak, think about and relate to children.

“We hope that people will see the endless opportunities to invest in more nurturing approaches to providing guidance, support and role modeling as the things that will determine the choices and future direction of children and youth,” said Mrs. Dismont. “We will never turn around gang, drug and school performance problems by blaming kids. We can change it all by giving them something better to live for.”

This social marketing campaign will be carried out in the newspaper and on radio. It will also be extended to the community through public dialogue, events and activities, aimed at getting people involved and helping one another to take the challenge to “Be the change that starts the change.”

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