(ZANESVILLE, Ohio) – Zanesville Middle School student Evan Woerner is fearful of peer pressure making him do something that might affect him for the rest of his life.
Young people can feel pressure from their peers to solve problems through violence. Television, movies, and social media glamorize using your fists as a way to solve problems. These visual outlets often show individuals using violence as the alpha, the strongest, or the hero. This is a false portrayal because a hero should be able to use their words and be the bigger person by solving their problems in a civilized manner.
Woerner is one of 10 students from the Zanesville City School District honored yesterday evening by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost as a finalist in the “Do the Write Thing” challenge, a national program that asks middle-schoolers to discuss how violence impacts them and to share their ideas about reducing violence in their community.
“I want you to know, I am so proud of Zanesville City School’s second year in the program,” Yost said in a video shared with students during an awards celebration. “Congratulations to all of you for being selected as the top finalists in the Do the Write Thing challenge. Your writings were chosen as standouts of hundreds of essays submitted by your fellow students. That’s impressive!”
Yost’s office launched the program in Ohio in 2021, with Springfield City Schools. Since then, “Do the Write Thing” has expanded to four more school districts: Canton, Lima, Youngstown and Zanesville.
The program encourages students to put in their own words – maybe for the first time – a personal and sometimes-painful experience. In that sense, the experience is meant to be cathartic, a tool to help them move on.
The Zanesville program received 450 submissions from seventh- and eighth-graders from Zanesville Middle School. The award ceremony was held yesterday evening at the school.
Community members and business leaders volunteered to judge the submissions. The top 10 stories will be published as a booklet and shared across the state to bring greater attention to the problem of violence.
Aylah King and Evan Woerner will join six students from the other participating districts as Ohio’s ambassadors to the “Do the Write Thing” national conference in July in Washington, D.C.
Zanesville City Schools Superintendent Doug Baker celebrated the strength and resilience of the students who took part.
“This program provided a platform for our students to express how they have been personally affected by difficult challenges, that are mostly outside of their control, as well as describe potential solutions to those challenges,” Baker said. “It is both heartbreaking and inspiring to read the stories written through the eyes of a 14-year-old. And, for the adults in the community and beyond, who have the power to make positive and lasting changes, to once again view the community through the eyes of a child. It is our hope that these insights will initiate the momentum that is needed to encourage us all to become a leader in creating the type of communities that we all desire to live in.”
“Do the Write Thing,” organized by the National Campaign to Stop Youth Violence, was founded in 1994. The program has reached millions of students nationwide.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Hannah Hundley: 614-906-9113
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