STANDING UP TO THE BULLIES
COLAISTE Bhride Carnew flew the flag for their county when they took home the ISPCC Shield Youth Award for 2016.
The award, which is open to second-level students nationwide, asks students to create a project which empowers young people to stand up against bullying. Colaiste Bhride students emerged victorious this year following a nail-biting interview about their project by ISPCC board member Grace Kelly, Head of Vodafone Ireland Natalie Hodgess and rising star Sophie Healy Thow.
Throughout the academic year, transition year students in Colaiste Bhride took part in a variety of projects aimed at stamping out bullying in the school community. One of these focused on bullying on social media.
‘Our project was centred around the Yik Yak social media platform. We had 24 students in our group working on it and several of them had negative experiences in relation to bullying on the platform,’ explained Programme Coordinator at the school Eleanor Lee.
‘We contacted the founders in America directly and asked them to take away the option of leaving anonymous comments and also to put filters in place to make it difficult for people under 17 to register.’
Students also took part in a positive discipline campaign and various teamwork projects, along with researching the many supports out there for young people who have experienced bullying.
‘We didn’t want to reinvent the wheel. We wanted to see what was working in the community and devlop it further,’ said Eleanor.
As part of the fundraiser element of the project, students organised a tractor run and a social media campaign.
Following a year of hard work, Eleanor said students and teachers alike were delighted to win the shield.
‘It was a wow moment for the students and the school,’ she said. ‘They were very proactive students and well-deserving winners.’