“School is a safe spot, not a hate spot” and “Bullying is an act of insecurity #beyourself” are some of the messages from anti-bullying PSAs created by students at two local high schools. As part of the national Public Media initiative Not In Our Town (NIOT), KCPT asked local high school students to create anti-bullying PSAs for use on-air and in area classrooms.
Both PSAs will premiere around the February 13, 2012 broadcast of the latest NIOT documentary, Not In Our Town: Class Actions, which showcases how university and school campuses across the country have found positive ways to stand up against hate and bullying.
Students at FL Schlagle High School in Kansas City, KS decided to focus their PSA on cyber bullying. They polled fellow students to find out how social media is used to bully and then came up with ways to handle it. Throughout the spot, masked students hold signs with hash tagged messages like “Once you tweet it, it’s there forever #thinkbeforeyoutweet.”
Fairfax Learning Center’s student council came up with the slogan “School is a safe spot, not a hate spot,” designed a poster, and scripted a bullying skit. Because Fairfax Learning Center does not have a video production class or equipment, KCPT’s production crew went to film the skit and then edited it together.
The PSAs will continue to air on KCPT for the next year and will also be available to area teachers along with classroom resources from Not In Our Town. Educators are encouraged to sign-up to receive these resources and updates from the initiative here.
