SCHS Seeks Volunteers for Orange Band Day

South Cobb High School is holding its second annual Orange Band Day, and is seeking volunteers to listen, and only to listen.

Orange Band initiative is a a way to help prevent suicides and to provide an active all-day listening forum for students who very well may have no one else to listen.

Volunteers from the community, like State Rep. Alisha Morgan or local pastors, come out after a training session and spend time listening to students discuss everything from music to issues they may have been afraid to tell anyone else. These active listeners are designated by the orange bands they wear, and they do not provide commentary or judgement during the entire event.

SCHS experienced suicide last year from a student and a former student, and their deaths had a profound impact on the student body.

"With suicide, it is not uncommon to be unaware that an issue exists with the victim until the consequential event occurs.  In an attempt to provide our students with a safe outlet to express their issues, South Cobb High School has organized an Orange Band initiative program," SCHS school counselor Dr. Joy Moses wrote in an email.  

The Orange Band initiative began at James Madison University in 2003 when students generated an idea to get their campus talking and listening about the Iraq war.  Originally, the Orange Band experiment was a college sociology experiment in active listening that has proven to be effective and has started to spread across the nation in many settings.
Orange Band Day is scheduled for Dec. 16 with a mandatory training on Dec. 15 at 10 a.m.  Please contact as many people within your organization to participate in this culminating event.

Interested volunteers should contact Moses at joy.moses@cobbk12.org by Friday to ensure necessary accommodations are met.