DO SOMETHING'S BLOG
-
Green the White House - Campaign
- Posted on 04.13.09
Related causes: Community
DoSomething.org has teamed up with GreenTheWhiteHouse.com to kick off April’s greenest new campaign. To join the movement, teens can virtually tour the white house, get expert home-greening tips and decide how to green their own homes first. They can document their action, upload it to DoSomething.org and show the Obamas and teens across the country how to get green around the house.
Green the White House is a campaign for the people, by the people. If you can make small changes, the White House can too! At the end of the campaign, Do Something will present the White House with hundreds of tried, tested, and recordings tips to green their own digs. Five lucky green winners will get their ideas featured on the Do Something homepage, plus tons of swag and an iPod shuffle!
http://www.dosomething.org/whitehouse/
http://www.dosomething.org/whitehouse/rules -
11 Facts about Dating Abuse
- Posted on 03.17.09
1. Only 33% of teens who were in an abusive relationship ever told anyone about it.
2. Teen victims of dating violence are more likely to abuse drugs, have eating disorders, and attempt suicide.
3. A recent survey of schools found there were an estimated 4,000 incidents of rape or other types of sexual assault in public schools across the country. And this was in just one academic year!
4. In a study of gay, lesbian and bisexual adolescents, youths involved in same-sex dating are just as likely to experience dating violence as youths involved in opposite sex dating.
5. One third of high school students have been or will be involved in an abusive relationship.
6. Dating violence is the leading cause of injury to young women.
7. Nearly one quarter of girls who have been in a relationship reported going further sexually than they wanted as a result of pressure.
8. About 40% of teenage girls ages 14 to 17 say they know someone their age who has been hit or...Read More -
Honorable MENtion: Jimmie Briggs
- Posted on 03.17.09
In commemorating women who have left a mark in our nation’s history, it’s important to also acknowledge men who have taken on women’s issues. That’s the very reason once a week during Women’s History Month, through our “Honorable Mention” article, we’re paying tribute to men and their efforts to tackle issues that influence the lives of women and girls.
This week, we’re honoring Jimmie Briggs.
A former journalist, Briggs has spent his life writing stories that need to be told. Now Jimmie's moved into the role of activist and advocate. “Journalists are the pretense of objectivity. And I don't want to be objective anymore,” Jimmie says.
Jimmie’s latest initiative, Man Up, involves a coalition of organizations that aim to inform and inspire young people to tackle gender violence on behalf of future generations. The collective uses soccer and hip hop as the central tools to reach out to youth, boys and girls alike, and engage them in a proactive plan of attack against gender vi...Read More -
Change-Maker in Women's History: Dorothea Dix
- Posted on 03.17.09
Dorothea Dix tried her hand at many professions before finding her place as one of the first female activists. The New England native wasn’t satisfied after her stints as a teacher, a governess or a writer, but as a tireless crusader for the mentally ill, Dix was able to work with American states to provide decent care for the insane.
Born in Maine in 1802 and raised in Massachusetts, Dix suffered a debilitating breakdown by her mid-thirties. Desperate for a cure for her unhappiness, she went to England and met the Rathbones, well-known Quakers and social reformers in the UK. While staying with the Rathbones, she met people who believed the government should do more to look after the social and mental well-being of its citizens. She was in England during the British lunacy reform movement, when investigations into “madhouses” and insane asylums were launched.
When she came back to America, she launched a state wide investigation of how Massachusetts cared for its insane poor. ...Read More
