Flash Mob promotes youth activity

Four University of Regina students were recently involved in a flash mob on campus which is now becoming a rallying point to promote youth being active.

A flash mob is when a group of people gather together in a public place, act in a certain way for a specified amount of time, and then quickly disperse. In this case it was on Tuesday, March 6 around 11:15 a.m. students moved into the Administration Humanities Building Pit area and roughly 140 participants took part in the Flash Mob.

"The goal of the Flash Mob was to use it as a public service announcement (PSA) about children's health," explained Alex Giannoulis one of four U of R students from Yorkton involved in the project. "The Flash Mob was targeted at the 'screenies' of today's generation, who, by definition, are children who log over seven-hours of screen time a day, whether it be via cell phone, computer or gaming device. This generation of youth, for the first time, is expected to have a shorter life expectancy than their parents."

Yorkton participant Kurtis Decker elaborated.

"Studies have shown that this generation of youth are projected to live shorter life-spans than their parents which is an extremely scary statistic," he said. "As studying Physical Education students along with future Kinesiology students it is our future to show youth that physical activity is important and a necessary part of living a healthy lifestyle.

"It also will help prevent many diseases such as diabetes, coronary heart disease as well as prevent stroke and heart attacks.

"They are our future and therefore we took it as a great opportunity to help raise awareness towards this preventable problem that is becoming extremely problematic in society."

The idea for the Flash Mob actually came from a class instructor on campus.

Dr. June LeDrew, instructor for the KIN 180 class, contacted me a few weeks ago asking if I would be interested in editing a Flash Mob video that her class would be putting together. Kurtis Decker and Nick Jonassen, two students from Yorkton who are in the KIN 180 class, suggested my name to Dr. LeDrew and she then got in contact with me," said Giannoulis. "I am enrolled in the online version of this class, so I was familiar with what the class focussed on, and quickly agreed to take part in this exciting opportunity."

Giannoulis said there was a youth component to the idea from the outset.

"Students from École Wilfrid Walker School, a K-8 French Immersion school in Regina, SK, were invited by Dr. LeDrew to take part in the Flash Mob," he said. "Since the Flash Mob dealt with promoting physical activity in youth, it was only fitting that these youth take part in the Flash Mob. Students in Dr. LeDrew's KIN 180 class also took part in the Flash Mob, as did many of these students' friends who were invited to take part in, too."

Participating in the Flash Mob was a first time experience for the four Yorkton students.

Nick Jonassen of Yorkton said he was immediately intrigued by the concept.

"Yes, this was the first flash mob in which I have been a part of. I had seen many other flash mobs on YouTube and thought that it was an interesting concept," he said. "When June approached our group with the idea I thought the unique spin of getting children more physically active was a great idea.

"My first impression about gathering people spontaneously was excitement. I believed that by gathering a large group of diverse people who sincerely cared, we as a group could really help get our message across to public."

"Yes this is the first flash mob I have been a part of," said Tarrington Wyonzek of Yorkton. "At first it was a tough concept to grasp on bringing in everyone together throughout the dance, there was lots of preparation required. A three minute flash mob takes much longer than most people would think to organize."

"This was my first time taking part in a Flash Mob, and definitely not my last," said Giannoulis.

"Although it can be a lot of work, the end result is well worth the long hours put in to making the Flash Mob. There are several different Flash Mobs that have taken place at the University of Regina that available for viewing on YouTube."

Decker said that was the interesting aspect of the experience, the detailed pre-planning, and yet having a sense of spontaneity as it was happening.

"This was the first Flash Mob I was directly involved in I thought it was a neat experience, the task of having people attempting to look like 'average' University students mingling prior to the Flash Mob beginning was difficult because of the lead up work needed (i.e. speakers set-up, tables and chairs moved out of the way, camera holders put in place around the area)," he said.

"However, I think there were still many people surprised when the music began playing and it was neat to watch people joining in and growing the Mob."

The mention of YouTube brings us to the second part of the story of this particular Flash Mob.

The actual mob activity is now playing on YouTube ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89JMsdZAbtI ) to take the message to a broader audience.

"The YouTube video was a part of the original idea," said Giannoulis. "Create and rollout the Flash Mob with several cameras staged around the area to capture the Flash Mob then editing all the video clips into a roughly 3.5 minute video."

Giannoulis said the video had a two-fold goal.

"The reason the YouTube video was a part of the plan was to; one, help get the message out to a larger audience with the help of promotion by the group members, and two, based on the views that we achieved on the YouTube video our mark will then be adjusted based on a rubric that the group agreed on with Dr. LeDrew."

Giannoulis further explained, "the project works in three marking parts: marks for the completion of the actual Flash Mob, marks for the YouTube video 'views' and thirdly participation marks for each group member based on their participation in the many tasks that were needed to be done prior to the Flash Mob and video."

Wyonzek said how effective the Flash Mob was at getting their message out is still rather difficult to gauge.

"Right now it is tough to say if we reached our goal, we put the flash mob out on the Internet so that as many people as possible can see it," she said. "We want to spread the word on how much of a serious issue obesity in children is becoming, therefore we need this flash mob to affect as many people as possible."

Wyonzek added it is a message which needs more awareness.

"I think it's very important to draw attention to, I mean we want our upcoming youth to be healthy and to live a spontaneous life," she said. "If children are using a couch and a TV more than playing sports and being active then the chance of them living a good healthy life style at an older age is questionable. The whole point of the flash mob is to 'make death wait'."

Jonassen said the project is not over, thanks to the video, and that means the message will continue to be shared.

"I believe that this project is continuously drawing the attention of children's physical inactivity," he said. "The video was just uploaded to YouTube and is getting more views every day! So yes I believe we are getting people to draw attention to the lack of physical but continues to do so all the time.

"This is such an important message to get across because the kids of today are our future. Studies show that today's generation of children are predicted to be the first generation to live shorter life-spans then their parents. This is an alarming statistic that is a real eye opener.

"I think that this is an important message to get across to both children and adults because many people do not realize how harmful sitting around playing video games and watching TV really is. I hope that parents can realize that they need to take some responsibility and help encourage their children to be more physically active."

Giannoulis said the message is at least getting to some.

"I think that the video achieved our goal because we were able to share with individuals the alarming facts that are associated with physical inactivity in children, and how they can become more physically active," he said.

The reaction around campus to the effort has also been positive.

"The reaction around the campus has been overwhelmingly positive. Two days after uploading the video, we had over 4,000 views on YouTube, and thanks to social media and word-of-mouth, we expect this number to continue to increase," said Giannoulis. "Our professor, Dr. June LeDrew, has shared with us some of the feedback that our Flash Mob has received, and all of the feedback commends us on promoting such an important message."

Wyonzek said initial reaction is positive, but she hopes it continues to ripple outwards.

"So far around campus the reaction has been awesome, we had a huge group of students not participating in the flash mob come and watch it," she said. "The school did a good part in involving the staff and school photographer. All we can do now is wait and see if this flash mob can possibly change a few lives within the community, and raise an issue across the world."