GameFace: America

“To educate a man is to unfit him to be a slave.”

— Frederick Douglass (1818-1895), escaped slave, abolitionist, author

It’s a powerful statement. One that I think about almost every day because its corollary is equally true:  If you fail to educate a man, he is fit to be a slave.

This is our battle line here at the Game It Up Initiative.  We see kids all the time, and we see their potential.  We see the gifts and the talents they have, and wonder about the possibilities…sadly, more often than not, even more so than they do.

Many young people in our communities are increasingly disillusioned with the possibility that there is a good future for them.  They see their parents, teachers, and other adults struggling with their lives, bills, relationships and they wonder – “Is all this worth the effort?  Nothing is going to work out anyway.”

This slavery of the mind is powerful, but not insurmountable.  When youth are exposed to stories of gamers much like them, have access to technology in an environment that puts them in the driver’s seat and are challenged to engage topics that are important to them, a profound truth emerges.  Their potential, despite shackled by apathetic discontent, can be released in a moment of discovery.

In that moment a gang member can become an engineer.  Not only do we see their potential, but they can see it too.

This is why your story is so valuable.

We want to collect these stories, publish them in a variety of forms, and make them freely available to educators, parents, mentors, and the teen gamers themselves.  Our strategy is still being formulated on the best method to do this. But we need your help…and your story.  Please fill out the form below, and we will be in touch with next steps.

Thank you for partnering with us.  Together we can help another generation of young people discover the joy in learning, and in doing so release them into their purpose.