Categories: NewsHealth & Safety

Anti-bullying initiative – Rewrite Your Story online

<h2>Body shaming&comma; viral nudes&comma; violent threats&comma; hacked accounts&comma; doctored images&comma; and extreme nastiness—these are common occurrences online for too many young Australians&period;<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>As a proud partner of this month’s event&comma; Stay Smart Online Week 2016&comma; the Office of the Children’s eSafety Commissioner has launched <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;esafety&period;cmail20&period;com&sol;t&sol;i-l-khjrhut-noahib-r&sol;">Rewrite Your Story<&sol;a>&comma; a new&comma; youth-focussed project that explores these issues using real-life experiences of young people facing cyberbullying&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Through our cyberbullying complaints scheme&comma; we regularly deal with issues like those featured in Rewrite Your Story&comma; and we know firsthand the negative impacts these issues have on young people&comma;” says Acting Children’s eSafety Commissioner&comma; Andree Wright&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;We know cyberbullying continues to be a big issue for young people&comma; with our research showing 19 per cent of Australians aged 14-17 have experienced cyberbullying in the 12 months to June 2016&comma;” says Wright&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Central to the project are eight short films depicting instances of cyberbullying that are designed to empower young people to take action and rewrite their story of cyberbullying&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The first film&comma; released on October 12&comma; was <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;esafety&period;cmail20&period;com&sol;t&sol;i-l-khjrhut-noahib-y&sol;"><em>Connor’s Story<&sol;em><&sol;a>&comma; which explores what happens when a seemingly harmless joke goes viral&comma; and how the behaviour of a cyberbully can be the result of their own experience as a victim&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The films are designed to be conversation starters—leading young people to discuss the serious implications and possible solutions to cyberbullying&comma;” says Wright&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Rewrite Your Story also launched with a fresh&comma; <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;esafety&period;cmail20&period;com&sol;t&sol;i-l-khjrhut-noahib-j&sol;">youth-focussed website<&sol;a> featuring youth-written blogs&comma; professional advice and an interactive quiz&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Other complementary resources include lesson plans for each short film&comma; information for parents&comma; and a series of visually engaging posters&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p> &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Young people often feel alone when they’re going through cyberbullying&comma; but we want them to know if they report it to us&comma; we’ll stand with them and remove the material” adds Wright&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The next short film in the Rewrite Your Story series will be released next month&comma; with the other films to be rolled out over the next nine months&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>Backgrounder<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>Rewrite Your Story &lpar;RYS&rpar; is a youth-focussed initiative which explores cyberbullying and other online issues young people face&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Developed by the Office of the Children’s eSafety Commissioner&comma; RYS features real-life cyberbullying stories&comma; alongside advice and support about how to handle it&period; The program also provides essential information about how and when to report serious cyberbullying to the Office&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>RYS is designed to empower young people to be courageous in the face of cyberbullying&comma; guide them when they need&comma; and help them to support their friends&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The program also provides essential information about how and when to report serious cyberbullying to the Office&period; The Office’s <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;esafety&period;cmail20&period;com&sol;t&sol;i-l-khjrhut-noahib-i&sol;">cyberbullying complaints scheme <&sol;a>allows young people&comma; parents and an authorised adult &lpar;such as a teacher&rpar; to report serious cyberbullying material and to get that material removed&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;5360" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-5360" style&equals;"width&colon; 404px" class&equals;"wp-caption alignnone"><img class&equals;" wp-image-5360" src&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;school-news&period;com&period;au&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2016&sol;10&sol;Screen-Shot-2016-10-18-at-8&period;54&period;15-PM-300x188&period;png" alt&equals;"Rewrite your own story resources primary resources&colon; www&period;esafety&period;gov&period;au" width&equals;"404" height&equals;"253" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-5360" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Rewrite your own story resources primary resources&colon; www&period;esafety&period;gov&period;au<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure> <figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;5361" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-5361" style&equals;"width&colon; 394px" class&equals;"wp-caption alignnone"><img class&equals;" wp-image-5361" src&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;school-news&period;com&period;au&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2016&sol;10&sol;Screen-Shot-2016-10-18-at-8&period;54&period;08-PM-300x188&period;png" alt&equals;"Rewrite your own story resources secondary resources&colon; www&period;esafety&period;gov&period;au" width&equals;"394" height&equals;"247" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-5361" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Rewrite your own story resources secondary resources&colon; www&period;esafety&period;gov&period;au<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p><strong>Rewrite Your Story includes&colon;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<ul>&NewLine;<li>a fresh&comma; youth-focussed website at <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;esafety&period;gov&period;au&sol;rys">gov&period;au&sol;rys<&sol;a> which features the work of talented young artists&comma; writers and creatives&comma; as well as experienced professionals<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>conversation-starter videos looking at cyberbullying and its impact<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>useful teaching resources<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>a set of visually engaging posters suitable for libraries&comma; classrooms or common areas<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>an innovative tool that walks young people through the situation they are experiencing and directs them to relevant resources&comma; including how to report serious cyberbullying&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<&sol;ul>&NewLine;

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Suzy Barry

Suzy Barry is a freelance education writer and the former editor of School News, Australia.

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