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- Mission
- Code of Conduct
- PowerUp - Overview
- Goals and Objectives
- Game Content and Mechanics
- Game Screenshots
- Schematic Diagram of Game
- Additional Documentation Sources
Systers is an international community for all women involved in the technical aspects of computing. We welcome the participation of women technologists of all ages and at any stage of their studies or careers.
We engage our community by contributing to open source, collaborating with the global community, and learning/enhancing our coding skills. We are committed to providing a safe, positive online community for our many volunteers that offer their skills, time, and commitment to our projects.
In order to engage with the community, you can sign up on Systers Open Source Slack.
A primary goal of Systers is to be inclusive to the largest number of contributors, with the most varied and diverse backgrounds possible. As such, we are committed to providing a friendly, safe, and welcoming environment for all, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, ability, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and religion (or lack thereof).
See the full Code of Conduct and the Reporting Guidelines.
PowerUp seeks to empower pre-adolescents to take charge of their reproductive health through a choose-your-own-adventure mobile game that teaches social emotional learning, conflict resolution, and health skills in a fun, interactive way.
The game involves various map sites like home, library etc. where the user is required to answer option based questions related to reproductive health. On each of the map sites, several questions are asked in the form of conversations, which are termed as mini games. The app includes mini games for which the user is awarded points if answered correctly.
Rosie's BoyFriend: Let us party at your place tonight.
Rosie: A) I am down B) I don't think so
PowerUp is an initiative by the Systers, a community under Anita B.org with the goal to “increase the number of women in computer science and make the environments in which women work more conducive to their continued participation in the field.” Systers provides a private, safe online forum for women involved in technical aspects of computing. Today, Systers is the world’s largest email community of women in technical computing roles having more than 7,500 members from more than 65 countries.
- While mainstream media is increasingly becoming sexualized, access to sex education remains relatively low: less than 40% of schools in the United States require sex education, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- Many pre-teens endure emotional struggles, which can lower self-esteem and lead to depression.
- When these factors of emotional instability and little access to sex education are combined, the possibilities of becoming pregnant while young and spreading sexually transmitted infections are magnified.
- Equip pre-adolescent girls in the “pre-contemplation” stage who are not aware that they may be at risk and have no intention to change their sexual behaviors to become aware of issues concerning puberty and reproductive health.
- Draw attention towards several issues during adolescent period and provide solutions to the same.
- Create a mobile application with a game platform that supports simulated situations about sex and puberty and advocate development of self-esteem and critical thinking.
- Offer games and activities to help visualize related concepts through self-directed interactions in a low-stress environment
To learn about the differences between the iOS app and Android app, see the Differences Between iOS and Android page.
- The game content is based on SEL Core Competencies which include the following:
- Self-Awareness
- Self-Management
- Social Awareness
- Relationship Skills
- Decision Making
- Popular media is used in the storyline, music and avatar accessories.
- Points are earned through decision making, based on users’ ability to think critically, demonstrate self-esteem, and understanding of reproductive health.
- Points can be used to purchase clothes, accessories, and advancing in levels.
- To promote positive reinforcements, points can not be removed due to what might be considered “poor decision making”
- As the character evolves and gains points in the game, she will also gather superhero powers associated with particular personality traits that will be added to the main character's slate of options as she faces new situations.
- Mini games will be integrated indirectly to address key information surrounding reproductive health.
- Mini games provides a mental break from the story line.
- The mini games come in various types, including flipping over tiles to simulate the chance of successfully using a condom, to educate the user in an interactive way.
- Official Documentation
- PowerUp iOS Project
- PowerUp iOS Documentation 2015
- PowerUp iOS Documentation 2016
- PowerUp iOS Documentation 2017
To get connected with Systers Community sign up at Systers Open Source Slack.