Dear Adolescent and your Parent(s)/Guardian(s),

I am happy you are here reading this letter! It suggests you are considering making the Anytown experience a part of your life, and that is very exciting. If you decide to participate in the Anytown program you are choosing to a) enhance your leadership skills, b) increase your acceptance of diversity, c) critically analyze your own attitudes and behaviors, and d) refine your knowledge of the effects of prejudice and discrimination on our society. The purpose of this letter is to provide a brief overview of the Anytown experience, its theoretical foundation, and the positive outcomes experienced by adolescents who make the wonderful CHOICE to participate!

In order to fight prejudice and discrimination, theorists argued it was imperative to understand why these negative attitudes and behaviors occurred in the first place. Some researchers proposed the causes of bias included fear of cultural differences, an imbalance and/or misuse of power, acceptance of negative stereotypes, mechanisms of social influence (e.g., television, newspapers), and intergroup anxiety. Due to these fears of intergroup contact, as well as acceptance of harmful stereotypes, prejudice beliefs usually form followed by a tendency to either isolate oneself from other groups or act in discriminatory ways. This created large scale societal problems ranging from intimidation in the workplace to violent hate crimes.

Therefore, Anytown was developed based on the fundamental principles of Gordon Allport’s contact theory which encourages intergroup contact in a cooperative and supportive atmosphere where members, regardless of gender, race, religion, or culture are viewed as equals. At Anytown, youth experience contact with peers from diverse backgrounds (e.g., religious, cultural, racial, etc.) and cooperatively share ideas, discuss societal issues, and complete projects. They will work side by side with boys and girls from backgrounds both familiar and unfamiliar to them. Previous participants have claimed the experience was "completely life-altering," “the best thing ever,” and “I never knew how much I didn’t know about diversity in our society.”

Quantitative data support these proclamations. Over the course of one-year, Anytown delegates and high school aged non-Anytown participants completed surveys at three points in time (prior to the program, after the program, and 6 to 9 months later). Anytown participants demonstrated a significantly greater increase in their knowledge of discriminatory terms, acceptance of diversity, social competence, and community involvement when compared to peers who did not attend the program! Pretty amazing!

Whether you feel you are personally responding to bias and bigotry or proactively combating its occurrence, it is challenging work. At Anytown you will learn the skills needed to become a better advocate for yourself, your friends, your family, and your community. Also, if you already believe you accept others or categorize yourself in a “majority” group and accept the belief that “I don’t need this experience,” I urge you to read this letter again and identify the very important place there is for you at Anytown.

I wish you luck on your journey and look forward to seeing you at an Anytown in the future.

Sincerely,
Eileen Lyons, Ph.D.