Don’t Be So Reckless
30 Nov 2018
Bullying has been with us ever since we had to compete as an evolutionary species - so long that it’s been an inherent behavioural trait within the aggressors among us. In modern times it’s reared its ugly head within all parts of society – the workplace, the schoolyard, domestic situations, the sports field and just about any form of rivalry you can name.
But that doesn’t make it acceptable. And while we strive for greater equality between the sexes, cultures, nationalities and socio-economic groups as we evolve towards a more tolerant society, sadly bullying proponents are finding new ways to target their victims.
In the world of tech savvy Millennials and Gen Z’s bullying has become more insidious than ever. Stop Bullying Now is a new campaign addressing cyber bullying with Gold Coast high school and tertiary students using their own experiences to script the commercials. As Glass Media’s Christopher Boyd explains: “the campaign is unique because it’s been created by the students.”
The second phase of the anti-bullying messaging was sponsored by the Gold Coast Student Hub and follows the successful stage one campaign in 2017. As Executive Producer of the campaign Boyd is drawing on his extensive media experience to mentor secondary students from Varsity College, Pimpama Secondary College, Coomera Anglican College and Robina High School, along with tertiary students from TAFE Queensland. The students created the scripts and storyboards and they acted, filmed, edited and directed the commercials too, which only makes the end result that much more impressive.
TAFE screen and media student Rita Monteith came up with the idea of using the Australian Crawl song Reckless after listening to the lyrics and realising how relevant the message could be for the campaign. Rita says “it was a fantastic coup to secure the rights to an iconic Australian song in such a strong campaign.” James Reyne gave his permission and re-recorded the song specifically for Stop Bullying Now.
The ads are incredibly powerful and provocative, utilising numerous perspectives. One spot addresses two sides of the issue by warning that you shouldn’t be so reckless with what you share on social media because insensitive people can be so reckless with the comments they make, while another looks at passive viewing and how the sharing of that content is another form of cyber bullying in itself. As Christopher Boyd says: “no one understands the nature of the problem better than the kids themselves.”