From the week of April 6th through April 10th, the Students Against Destructive Decisions club, or SADD, launched a media campaign designed to get students talking.
The “Be Honest, U Good?” campaign challenges students to reach out to others, and check-in with their friends. In an era of social disconnect, the SADD club encourages teens to speak about their emotions with friends, family, or trusted adults, and establish support systems that they can turn to.
Along with promoting mental health, the campaign also raises awareness for substance abuse, allowing students to talk to people in the SWHS community if they are struggling with it.
The ‘Be Honest, U Good?’ initiative has been implemented in South Windsor High School through posters featuring SADD club members and staff members, to remind students that they have a community to turn to if they are struggling.
The posters also include a QR code to access resources for mental health, substance abuse, and other challenges teens may be facing that require additional support.
During the launch week, the SADD club organized a series of activities that engaged the student body and allowed them to learn more about the campaign
SADD club advisor Kathleen Reed spoke with The Prowl about the goals of the “Be Honest, U Good?” campaign.
“High school can be overwhelming, and too often everyone feels like they have to handle everything on their own,” Reed said.
Reed also mentioned how the goal of the SADD Club with this project is to encourage honest conversations with peers. Letting the students know that they have resources when it comes to mental health and substance prevention.
“We can all see reaching out as a strength, not a weakness,” Reed says.
The SADD club was originally founded as a way to promote healthy lifestyle choices, and in recent years their focus has shifted more strongly towards mental health support, while still advocating for their original initiatives.
This campaign has been in the works for the past 2 years, the club worked with local marketing company, Scout Collective, to produce the catchy slogan and a series of photo materials. The collaboration occurred over regular zoom meetings between Scout Collective, SADD team leaders, along with advisor Mrs. Reed.
Mrs Reed talked about how working with Scout Collective helped the club achieve their goal with this campaign.
“We appreciate the key role they played in helping us turn the campaign from an idea into action,” Reed said.
The rollout of the “Be Honest, U Good?” campaign was organized and planned directly by SADD students. Through the week of the 6th club members distributed posters around the school, spoke on the school news, and created activities to get students excited about the program.
On the morning of April 10th, SADD club members handed out goodie bags at the main entrance as students entered the building. The goodie bags contained a little sticky note talking about the project. They also contained small tokens like smarties candy, along with a sticker and a customized “Be honest u good” bracelets.
On the same day, during lunch waves 2,3 and 4, SADD club members hosted a ‘Spill the Tea’ activity in the cafe. They handed out ‘Be Honest, U Good?’ bracelets, candy, and cups of iced tea with fresh fruit. The purpose of the activity was to encourage students to ‘spill the tea’ with their friends, and engage in meaningful and honest conversations to check in on each other’s well being.
SADD co-president, Olivia Stoner, expressed her gratitude towards the club for their continued effort towards this project.
“I’m very proud of all the work that SADD did over the past year to make this launch a success.” Stoner told The Prowl.
Looking forward, her hope for this launch is that students found someone they can confide in and now have a list of resources to reach out to for help.
Although the launch week has ended, the posters will still remain up throughout the school in individual classrooms, serving as a constant reminder that there is always someone there for you, and you should reach out whenever you need help.
