The ‘Stop Speak Support’ video will be shown to new students during their College induction as a way of highlighting the dangers of bullying and to raise awareness of equality, diversity and other relevant issues.
Student Enrichment Officer, Lesley-Anne Beacom said the thinking behind the video was to encourage and promote a positive learning environment, free from discrimination and harassment, for all students.
“We wanted to raise awareness of bullying generally but particularly the problems associated with cyber-bullying. While there have been many positive developments and improvements in technology and social media, the downside is that bullying can and does happen 24/7. Unfortunately, for some young people, it can seem like there is no escape from it.
“We were keen to have a video made by students that would complement the College’s commitment to promoting an anti-bullying culture.“We hope that this video will encourage students at the College who are being bullied themselves or, who are perhaps are aware that someone in their class is being bullied, to speak up and share their concerns with the College Safeguarding Champions who are available on all campuses to support to anyone affected by bullying.
She continued: “I’d like to thank everyone who worked on the creation of this thought provoking video. It not only highlights the damaging impact of that bullying can have on individual students but also how a little support can make a big difference to the person being bullied. I would encourage everyone who watches the video to consider what they can do to help beat the bullies.”
Students involved the creating the video said it was a great experience and that they especially enjoyed collaborating with different departments and campuses.
Creative Media Production student, Calum McDonald said it had been an excellent learning curve for everyone involved.
“Hopefully, it inspire students to speak out about bullying and to make use of the College’s support services if they need help.”
He added: “It was a great experience for everyone involved in the project. Working as a team in such a collaborative way will really stand to us in our future careers as projects like this which give us hands on experience are a great preparation for working life and will improve our employability,” he said.
Lecturers involved in the project where Adelle McCann, Frankie McEldowney and Gemma McGranaghan, all Performing Arts & Media lecturers. Gemma’s Performing Arts class in Newtownabbey acted in the film while Adelle and Frankie’s Level 3 Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production Year 2 class produced and edited it.
To watch the video, click on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6k8D3X68ObM&feature=youtu.be
The College Safeguarding team are available on site or may be contacted by emailing safe@nrc.ac.uk
