SquashBusters is a sports-based youth development program in Boston. Our high school team is excited to participate in 1 Billion Rising 2014

SquashBusters rises for our seniors going off to college in the upcoming fall. It is not the easiest thing to keep in the back of each of our minds as we wait for the day we are off to college. The amount and intensity of sexual assaults that has increased in colleges and universities is an injustice and we rise for a dramatic change in that. SquashBusters rises for colleges and universities to finally take a real stand against sexual assault on campus. SquashBusters urges colleges to come up with effective ways to make sure students spend their time on campus safely. We rise for our safety. We rise for our future.
SquashBusters rises for voice. There are too many people keeping things bottled up inside because they feel they can’t speak out. To those people: you have every right. One voice can be the change of the whole world but if we don’t stand for that voice to speak out, we are missing out on that potential change. SquashBusters rises for people who have been hurt or put down by harsh words and are afraid to voice what they believe in. To those people: show us what you got. Nobody is ever alone in this world so your voice and her voice and his voice all together can help put aside all the hurtful and harsh things. SquashBusters rises for the bravery in people to come out and make a difference. We rise for our voice.
SquashBusters rises for kindness and dignity. Hearing people joke about rape, sexism, and segregation may seem funny to you. But when you really think about it, it’s offensive to those who have been raped, to those who have been put down because of their gender, to those who couldn’t achieve their dreams because they weren’t white. We rise to inform everyone that ignorant jokes effect people harshly. You may not see what it does in the moment, but it may just be mentally destroying a person. The world already has enough suicides from being mentally and physically destroyed, we rise to take that percentage down. We rise so the next generation won’t have these harmful jokes. Would the joke still be funny if it was said to you? We rise because we want to leave the world in better condition than when we came into it. We rise for the ignorance to be no more.
SquashBusters rises for inclusion. At lunch time every day in high school cafeterias there are tables that are segregated by white people, nerds, jocks, outcasts etc. These cliques reinforce divisions that result in loneliness and insecurities and drive people to self-harm or self-doubt. We rise for one table. A table made up of people who may look different but all have kindness and openness in their hearts and an understanding that everyone is equal. I rise so that everyone is included in lunch conversations and drama doesn’t exist. We rise so that women feel like they can speak out in class without feeling judged. We rise so that men know that women are as smart as men or smarter. We rise so that no judgment will ever hurt anyone again and bullying won’t exist. We rise so that sandy hook and columbine could never happen again. We rise so that schools feel like a safe home for young men and women.
SquashBusters rises for young people everywhere feel like they matter and that they are loved. We rise to end the culture of violence in schools.