Respect for All Project

RFA uses the medium of documentary film, featuring the experiences and reflections of children and young people, to open up channels of communication about respect and understanding between children and the adults who support their development. It is premised on the assumption that children can learn through their peers' experience, as documented through film, in concert with conversations with parents and teachers. The idea is that, by watching a film together, parents or teachers and children can engage in dialogue about even sensitive topics. The project is based on the belief that waiting to teach children to accept differences until middle or high school is too late; statistics show that by that time stereotypes have already begun to take hold, making teaching about respect a potentially difficult process of "unlearning" negative attitudes.

Films produced, screened, and distributed as part of the RFA project and used in schools, community organisations, and households nationwide include:

1. Let's Get Real (2003) - takes an honest look at the epidemic of name-calling and bullying among middle school youth. The film features over 50 youth speaking directly about racial tension, anti-gay taunting, and sexual harassment. Rather than featuring adults lecturing kids about what to do when "bad" kids pick on them, the film includes stories of kids who have mustered the courage to stand up for themselves or a classmate. Told entirely from a youth perspective, Let's Get Real features not only kids who are targeted and their allies, but also the youth who do the bullying.
2. That's a Family! (2000) - a half-hour video that is designed to help elementary-school-age children see and understand the many different shapes that families take today. According to GroundSpark, "there are times when adults aren't sure how to help children talk about some of the real issues that affect families - theirs and other kids'. We made this film to give parents, teachers, counselors, children's and family service providers a kid-friendly tool to help them have those conversations".
3. It's Elementary - Talking About Gay Issues in School (1996) - an award-winning film that explores how teachers can include discussions about gay people in their classrooms with elementary and middle school students.
4. Straightlaced - in production; it will be used to help high school students examine the social pressures they face related to conforming to prescribed gender roles for males and females. It will also look at the tie between gender roles and anti-gay behaviour and attitudes. This film "not only includes the perspectives of teens who self-identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, it focuses on students at all points along the 'homophobia' spectrum - harassers, targets, silent witnesses, allies, and those who limit themselves along strict gender role lines...Our goal is that any student who watches Straightlaced will find someone in the film whose experience with these issues mirrors their own."

These films are accompanied by printed curriculum guides designed to help educators and youth advocates use the documentaries with students and fellow staff. The teaching guides feature pre- and post-viewing activities, sample lesson plans, frequently asked questions, discussion starters, and further resources. These guides are available free with the purchase of each film; printed copies may be ordered separately for a fee. In addition, PDF versions of individual components of each guide may be downloaded for free on the RFA page on the GroundSpark website.

GroundSpark also offers professional training for educators and youth-service providers about how to use these films to engage young people in meaningful dialogue. As part of a collaborative initiative with the Afterschool Alliance, the Association of Children's Museums, the Child Welfare League of America, the National Education Association, and the US Conference of Mayors, GroundSpark has conducted trainings centered around That's a Family! in various cities from coast to coast. School-site trainings have also been conducted for school districts in cities throughout California.

Children, Youth, Rights, Conflict.

GroundSpark cites the following statistics as a picture of the context in which many US children and youth approach issues of difference:

• The National Education Association estimates that 160,000 children miss school every day due to fear of attack or intimidation by other students.
• Six out of 10 American teenagers witness bullying in school at least once a day.
• According to the US Secret Service in a 2002 report, many of the youth involved in school shootings cited bullying as a contributing factor to their violent behaviour.
• 61% of all children will spend a significant portion of their childhood with a single mother.
• 1.4 million children are being raised by their grandparents.
• 6 to 10 million children have lesbian, gay, and bisexual parents.
• More than 2.3 million children are being raised by interracial or intergroup couples.
• Nearly 500,000 children are in foster care at any one time.
• One million children live with adoptive parents.
• The California Safe Schools Coalition found that 91% of all students hear their peers use slurs about sexual orientation on a regular basis. More than 40% say that their teachers make those same remarks.
• 27% of students report that they’ve been harassed because they weren’t “masculine enough” or “feminine enough.”
• Almost half of all students do not think that their school is safe for students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT).

In an independent research study evaluating the effectiveness of RFA's diversity-training programme, 93% of participants said they felt better equipped to discuss diversity issues of all kinds with young children. Of those who used the film That's a Family!, 96% described the film as a "very good" or "good" use of class time, and nearly 90% said it prompted "engaged" dialogue among their students.

GroundSpark is a non-profit film production company founded in 1978 to create and distribute documentary films on social and economic justice issues.