Woodside High Teams With Dr. Zimbardo for Heroism Project

Dr. Philip Zimbardo is best known for conducting the Stanford Prison Study in 1971, while a professor at Stanford University.  The landmark social psychology experiment provided empirical evidence that powerful situations can corrupt even the best and brightest of us. 

But Zimbardo's Heroic Imagination Project encourages participants to tap into the good side of human nature to overcome innate darker tendencies through small acts of goodness.

Zimbardo referred to the TechHeroes Project, in which Woodside High School students teach residents of the Palo Alto Sunrise Senior Living how to use the Internet and how to send messages to their kids.

"It's transformative, not just for the elderly, but for the kids. You can see their attitudes changing." Zimbardo said. "It allows young people to realize their heroic capabilities."

On March 27, a joint fundraiser was held in San Francisco for the Heroic Imagination Project (HIP) and Palo Alto University (formerly the Pacific Graduate School of Psychology).

Check out the video at 8:33 to learn more about the program that involves students from Woodside High School, Palo Alto High School and Gunn High School.

Dr. Zimbardo is the president of HIP and a professor at Palo Alto University.  At the Hotel Kabuki in Japantown, he spoke to attendees about the goals, methods, and various projects of the two organizations. 

What does the Heroic Imagination Project (HIP) do?

It prepares individuals to behave heroically in everyday situations. 

How does HIP do it?

By providing educational and media-based programs that:

• Fortify individuals against anti-social passivity.
• Inspire individuals toward heroic action.
• Teach the necessary skills and habits that translate heroic impulses into action. 

There are many internet programs that simply tell people to “be the change you want to see.”  This is grossly inadequate without proper guidance.  HIP teaches young people how to be an effective change agent/hero. 

Challenges we’re facing today:

In 2010, a Richmond girl was gang-raped after a school dance.  Bystanders simply watched.  Nobody called 911.  Some even texted friends to describe the scene.  Public indifference/apathy allowed for this horror to go on. 

How do we solve these problems?

Think big, but start small. 

Try to make someone feel special every day.  Give a compliment, get someone to smile.  These are not necessarily heroic actions, but they are rooted in a core principle of heroism: thinking outside of one’s self.  Thinking of others puts you on the path toward heroism. 

Stand up to a bully at school or work.  Doing so alone can be daunting.  Form a network of allies to confront the bully together. 

Be the first to help a stranger in distress (like a good Samaritan).

What does it take to be a hero?

The traditional concept of a mighty warrior hero is unrealistic and impractical.  Real heroes are most often ordinary people doing extraordinary things. 

In 1955, an African-American seamstress broke the law by refusing to give up her bus seat to a Caucasian.  Despite being arrested by the police and fired from her seamstress job, Rosa Parks galvanized the civil rights movement by having the courage to speak out against injustice. 

What is the meaning behind the words Heroic Imagination?

Heroic: Learning to be courageous and more compassionate by taking on tough challenges.  Heroism is behavior that is:

• engaged in voluntarily.
• conducted in service of others.
• involves a risk to one’s own physical comfort, social stature, or quality of life. 
• initiated without the expectation of material gain. 
• learned/taught/modeled.  It is not inborn.

Imagination, in the context of HIP, is the ability to visualize yourself  behaving heroically in everyday circumstances.  You must be able to imagine yourself as a hero if you are to become one.  It is important to recognize that being a hero does not require you to save the world.  Doing little things to help can have a large impact. 

Put the two words together, and Heroic Imagination provides a mental framework in which people can feel confident to go out and effect positive change. 

There are currently several education pilot programs under way in Oakland, Los Altos, Atherton, and Palo Alto schools.  

HIP staff go into the schools a few times per week, on average.  The programs apply basic social, cognitive, and positive psychology to community, school, and family problems.  The students then apply the lessons they learned to everyday interactions with peers and the community. 

Rewa Bush, an 11^th grader from Foothill Middle College in Los Altos, was a pilot program student. 

Asked what she learned in the program, Bush replied: Basically, what are the things that stop us from taking action when we know that something’s going wrong.  And because of that, I feel that I’m a lot more able to take action because I’m aware of when I or my peers are conforming."

On the topic of bullying:  “If you have an ally, if you have someone else maybe who’s in your class who also can see that something needs to be done, together you can stand up.”

The findings of HIP’s various projects will be published online at www.heroicimagination.org.  By sharing this information with everybody, Dr. Zimbardo hopes to, in his own words, “sow the seeds of everyday heroism around the world.”

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