Presentation Tuam TY students help to decrease cyberbullying with YSI initiative

By JACQUELINE HOGGE A GROUP of Transition Year students from Tuam have turned the tide of cyberbullying over the past six months with a project they hope will impress at this yearâ€â„¢s Young Social Innovators Speak Out conference. The girls from Presentation College Tuam are gearing up to break the world record after Easter for people posing with thumbs down, to signify they dislike cyberbullying, in their Face It, Face Up initiative. It is one of three projects entered by the school in this yearâ€â„¢s YSI competition, which has seen the Pres girls claim national awards for previous initiatives over the past six years. Chloe Crowe said that by raising awareness of cyber bullying among their fellow students, the incidence of virtual bullying had decreased. â€Å“We have been educating students on what exactly cyberbullying is and encouraging them to inform a teacher, the principal, deputy principal or anyone else they trust if they are being bullied,â€Â she said. â€Å“We also held a talk for incoming first-year students at the schoolâ€â„¢s open night earlier this month where parents were also informed of our efforts to reduce and prevent incidents of cyberbullying among young people.â€Â Chloe and her classmates will bring the project and two others, YouthCan and Seeing Me, Seeing You, to the Ardilaun Hotel in Galway next Tuesday, March 12 for the annual Speak Out regional event. Seeing Me, Seeing You is the product of generating awareness of depression among young people. Julie Flaherty explained that the idea came about following a talk on mental health in the school last October. â€Å“Hearing about depression made us think about it more and talk about it among ourselves and our friends,â€Â she said. Mental Health issues â€Å“Some of us know people who have mental health issues and weâ€â„¢ve been encouraging them to talk about the things that are concerning them and that they shouldnâ€â„¢t be afraid to get help. â€Å“The aim of our project is to remove the stigma from depression in our area and to increase peopleâ€â„¢s knowledge and understanding of depression.â€Â The third project the girls are hoping will gain them a place in the annual showcase of YSI projects in Dublin in May, is a holistic youth cancer awareness and prevention programme. YouthCan is a joint initiative between the school and Tuam Cancer Care and has seen the girls give presentations to TY classes in the Mercy Secondary School and St Jarlathâ€â„¢s College in Tuam. Emer Lambe said the focus of the project was to adopt an active learning approach for young people on how to reduce and prevent behaviours that contribute to the development of cancer. â€Å“We made up information leaflets for young people containing guidelines for healthy eating, how to keep active, how to stay safe in the sun and the negative health effects of smoking and drinking excessive amounts of alcohol,â€Â she said. â€Å“There is also information about how to maintain good mental and sexual health.â€Â The girls have been selling wristbands in shops throughout the town over the past number of months, with all the proceeds from this activity going to Tuam Cancer Care.