Many violent and terror striking incidents have occurred in the recent past, which has led to a lot of questions arising in the minds of the youth. To address these issues and help teachers on how to tackle them, Archie Comics co-CEO, Nancy Silberkleit has just launched a new comic book titled See Something, Say Something.
Having seen this medium being effective, Nancy chose to use the power of comic book stories to begin a dialogue on gun violence. The eight page comic book tells the story of a teen who is new at a school and is bullied by a group of students. He struggles with the turmoil and cannot find inner peace, which causes him to bring disharmony to the school. He tells another student of his plan to get even, which involves violence towards others.
“I began working on this project at the beginning of this year,” said Silberkleit, whose Rise Above Social Issues Foundation has published comics on bullying and self-esteem. “After the horrific shooting at a church in South Carolina last winter, I put the project on fast-track. Never could I have thought it would be coming out just as our nation is devastated by yet another mass shooting, this time at a community college in Oregon. It underscores the need to take action to bring about a change, in this case, to educate young people about dealing with anger and the need to say something if you see or hear something that could portend a problem.”
Silberkleit, a former teacher who speaks to teachers and young people nationally and worldwide on a variety of issues surrounding bullying, and her talks have been well-received by audiences as far as the African continent and India, said, “Like all of us, teens are looking for ways to explain and understand episodes of mass violence that too often capture the headline. The text and rich graphics of the comic create a stage for students to think creatively, internalise feelings and share them through open discussions in a classroom setting.”
See Something, Say Something has a script by noted educational consultant and scriptwriter Peter Gutierrez, with pencil illustrations by Loyiso Mkize. The story will soon have a four-page teaching guide, free for teachers who purchase the comic book and the comic will be made available digitally for $1.99.