Christian Retailing

Groups join forces for youth's 'Ethical Revolution' Print Email
Wednesday, 24 January 2007 07:00 PM America/New_York

The Gospel Music Association (GMA) has joined forces with the C4 Group and National Council for Faith-Based Youth (NCFBY) to sponsor Ethical Revolution, a campaign that encourages youth to make consistent ethical choices.

It will initially focus on changing attitudes on music piracy and illegal file-sharing. The three organizations involved will join together to bring the multifaceted campaign to millions of youth across the nation, organizers said. The C4 Group is an organization committed to providing positive solutions for youth. The NCFBY was established to serve as a liaison of relationships and actions regarding the issues affecting the youth within the faith community.

Phase two of Ethical Revolution kicked off at the Capital District Youth for Christ Excel Conference, held Jan. 12-15 in New York. More than 2,000 students were given a template, which can be applied to any decision youth face daily, organizers said. The template takes them on a journey from ambiguity to awareness to agreement to action. The students overwhelmingly agreed to apply the framework to their lives.

Phase two of the campaign will include extensive youth culture research. The campaign will fill a void that currently exists in engaging America's youth in a dialogue about important, ethical issues, initially music piracy, organizers said.

“We have been searching for the right approach to this critical problem, and we believe the Ethical Revolution is it,” John W. Styll, president of the GMA, said.

The GMA has been engaged in the issue of music piracy since 2004 when it launched its Millions of Wrongs Don't Make It Right campaign after a research study conducted by The Barna Group revealed that Christian teens are as likely to swap and steal music as their secular peers.

Millions of Wrongs has been a primarily grass-roots effort, identifying partners at music labels, churches, ministry organizations, retailers, radio and other media to help deliver the message through a brochure and other materials with artists such as Steven Curtis Chapman, Stacie Orrico and Shaun Groves serving as artist spokespersons.