Alliance: Newsletter: Summer 2005: Boys will be Men
Newsletter: Summer 2005: Boys will be Men
"Know When to Use Your Pause Button" [1] 
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When talking to boys about sexual assault, it is best to provide a positive message about masculinity, one that reinforces the boys’ own morality and puts them in control of their actions. While boys generally believe that violence toward girls is unacceptable – even reprehensible – behavior, they do not necessarily make a clear connection between violence and sexual assault. We have to make that message clear: sexual assault is an act of violence against women.
At the same time, punitive messages about the future consequences of their behavior are not as effective for boys. This is largely because adolescents view their “future” and adulthood in a very distanced, abstract way. While they are aware that their current behaviors might affect their lives down the road (high school, college and beyond), their acute sense of the future usually does not extend beyond anticipation for tomorrow’s game or the party on Saturday night.
After a long, careful development process working with experts in teen and “tween” research and marketing, the Pause Button Campaign is the best poster we’ve seen for this audience. The final poster was designed by Craig Yoe and Yoe! Studio. Craig is the former Creative Director and VP/General Manager of the Muppets, and has worked on everything from TV shows to theme parks. The team at Yoe! are experts in crafting effective messages that young people notice and identify with.
Pat Tobin of the Michael Cohen Group and formerly of Applied Research and Consulting (ARC) was the primary researcher in the development of the poster's messaging.
Focus-testing found that boys clearly recognized that this poster was intended for them, and that if they came across an ad like this, no matter the location, they would stop and check it out. All boys immediately and readily understood the message. As a 9th grade boy participating in a focus group said: “It’s not a game. You get points in playing games, but you don’t get points for rape.”
The Alliance determined that a toolkit for program staff was needed in order to encourage buy-in for the campaign, assist with proper implementation, and help safeguard against any negative effects. The toolkit also guides and encourages youth workers, generates additional activities, and points to outside materials. It offers advice on what to do if a survivor or an abuser comes forward, and how to talk to a group of young people about sexual violence. A crucial part of the toolkit is a “Myths and Facts” section that can be used in a classroom discussion, and also serves to educate staff.
To inform our future work, the Pause Button campaign distribution is integrated with an evaluative research study to ascertain its efficacy, in 25 after-school and beacon programs. This will help the Alliance understand youth and service providers’ experience with targeted public service campaigns; their familiarity with anti-sexual assault messages; their preparedness to deal with the issue; and their response to the poster.
The evaluation will be conducted with The Michael Cohen Group (MCG), the Alliance’s research partner throughout the development of this campaign. MCG is a research-based consulting firm with a strong specialization in research with youth and children, and a particular focus in researching educational and media products and programs for children.
The campaign is part of the Alliance’s ongoing effort to reach out to youth and provide information and access. We are pursuing resources to grow the project, including developing educational and curricular supplements.
For more information, see [2] pausebutton.org.
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[1]: http://www.nycagainstrape.org/home/nycaasa/stage.nycagainstrape.org/javascript:rs(
[2]: http://pausebutton.org
[3]: http://www.nycagainstrape.org/home/nycaasa/stage.nycagainstrape.org/newsletter_article_203.html
[4]: http://www.nycagainstrape.org/home/nycaasa/stage.nycagainstrape.org/newsletter_article_205.html
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