Cyberbullying In Spotlight by Local Film Festival

A local film that brings Cyberbullying in the spotlight. Teens who have been cyberbullied are not going to let it happen again. Here’s how they’ll use what they’ve learned to raise awareness and help others in similar situations.

The story of Niris Kaya facing cyberbullying:

School-going days are normal for many students. However,  for Niris Kaya, the truth couldn’t have been more different.

As a high school student in her seventh year, she was bullied all the time. It started in class and went on online after hours, which is something that happens all too often these days. She says, “I dressed a little differently, and people said I did it to get attention.”

“People were sending me messages saying I was fat, ugly, and very sad. It just went on and on. My school said it wasn’t their fault because it happened after school hours.

Kaya couldn’t take it anymore by the time she was in grade 8, so she quit going to school.

Things didn’t start to get better until her counselor told her about Centennial Park School at Randwick. This school helps high school students who have been diagnosed with mental health problems or disorders with personalized educational programs and assistance.

“There were only 30 or 40 students in the school, and everyone had been through the same thing,” she says. “The school took a lot more responsibility for what went on outside.

GETTING FEELINGS ON FILM:

Kaya learned about the yearly REELise Film Festival while she was there. The festival shows short films made by young people about life in a digital world. It was the start that brought Cyberbullying in the spotlight.

She felt better after making her first movie for the competition. She says, “It was so nice to put my phone to good use.”

“Sometimes it’s hard to put how you feel into words, so it was nice that other people acknowledged what had happened.”

Eight years later, 22-year-old Kaya is studying media and communications at university and still acts as an ambassador for the festival in the hope of helping other young people who may be going through the same thing she did.

Rachael Pearce, who is 14 years old:

She says, “Unfortunately, there are times when anonymous users comment or reply to my comments with aggressive responses. There was even a time when someone threatened me several times on different social media platforms.”

“We’ve been taught to think that this kind of behavior is okay or at least normal when using social media.”

Rachael’s experience led her to join eSafety’s Online Safety Youth Advisory Council, which was set up to give the government information about problems young people face online and look into ways to help them have good interactions online.

Mental health of victim is highly effected, See https://thetechburner.com/cyberbullying-is-affecting-mental-health/

She says, “I’ve always been interested in the problems young people face and in technology in general, and I think this job is a good fit for both of those things.”

Anson Mak, another Abbotsleigh student, is also doing her part to solve the problem by making a short film about cyberbullying for the yearly REELise Film Festival, which shows short films made by young people about their lives in the digital world.

“I wanted to point out that a lot of people say they want to go viral on social media, but that might not always be a good thing,” she says.

“It can have an effect on other people in the community and make stalking more common. A lot of people who have a lot of followers on social media get into trouble online. There has always been a lot of small-scale drama and conflict. This is something you can do online. I also think it shows how much we all like drama and how easy it is for people to find it online.” These stories will teel how cyberbullying affected mental health of victim and why it was inevitable for bringing  Cyberbullying In Spotlight.

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