Olivet’s Boys & Girls Club Speak Up! PSAs

In 2002, the Center to Prevent Youth Violence (CPYV) created the Speak Up! campaign. Building on of the knowledge that most violent threats are premeditated, the campaign was launched to encourage the youth to speak up and anonymously report gun and weapon violence before it occurs. Inspired by this campaign, the Olivet’s Boys & Girls Club of Reading, Pa. sought out a partner to help give this sort of voice to their participants. After discovering Haydenfilms Institute, the Club reached out to its Executive Director Hayden Craddolph. The resulting collaboration became a six-week program where Boys & Girls Club members were given the training and resources to effectively translate their messages denouncing gun and weapon violence through the creation of public services announcements for the Speak Up! Campaign itself. At the end of the program, the youth of Olivet’s Boys & Girls Club had created three powerful and influential PSAs urging their generation to report gun and weapon violence.