Hillsdale teens are catching bullies on live footage.
YOUTH, Young Opportunities Unlimited Throughout Hillsdale, a body of middle and high school representatives from Hillsdale County schools, organized an anti-bullying video contest in response to a survey they took of Hillsdale County students at the beginning of the fall semester.
Forty three percent of responses said that bullying is a top issue for teens.
YOUTH asked community members ages 12-21 to submit a 60-second video about bullying by Oct. 14.
“A well-done video hits home by allowing people to get a better understanding of what it feels like to picked on. People think it’s a joke, but a video shows people that the jokes actually hurt,” high school senior and president of YOUTH Jay Close said.
Eight videos were submitted and first, second, and third winners were selected by YOUTH members through a secret ballot. On Nov. 4, YOUTH will announce the grand prize winner at a red-carpet premiere open to the public at the Sauk Theatre in Jonesville. For the grand prize winner, the video will be shown for 4-6 weeks before every movie shown at the Sauk Theatre.
“This was something new for us, usually the students make their own videos but they wanted to get the community involved,” said Amber Yoder, adviser to the YOUTH committee.
Yoder said the student videos emphasized self-esteem building and the power of a witness to step in and stop the abuse. One video rapidly showed the timeline of a student’s school photos with the message that he was not changing for other people.
MaCayla Visher, a sophomore at Hillsdale high school and vice president of YOUTH, played a bystander in a video about a boy getting bullied for his appearance. Her team spent three days shooting the video in the hallways of Hillsdale High School and took two days to edit the video.
A member of YOUTH since 7th grade, Visher also participated in a summer YOUTH community involvement project to simulate homelessness for two days. Put into groups, students began their homeless challenge by getting evicted at Hillsdale County court. Visher’s group slept at the fairgrounds on the cement, only a roof protected them from the rain one night.
“It was really hard for participants. But it was an eye-opener for the students and the community,” Visher said.
YOUTH members organize four unique service projects every year with specific ends, such as garnering community involvement
