There’s a shift in the old adage “sticks and stones may break my bones.” To anyone who has ever been bullied, it’s this: “but words will stay with me forever.”
With one in seven Canadian youth actively bullied, it is an issue that needs to be highlighted today, not tomorrow, say students from the Vernon school district’s Global Education program.
The students have turned to artistic means as a way to bring attention to the impact of bullying.
Teaming up with The Hub Arts Collective, the resulting art exhibition,Worthless, opens Sunday at The Hub and features an installation with sound, performance and a visual aspect.
“We have created an experience of what it is like to be targeted by this sad reality. The goal is to make the viewer more conscious of when bullying is happening around them, to break the cycle, stand up and do something about it,” said Global Education students Ashley Stragier and Anna Anderson, in discussing the show with Hub artist Ryan Robson.
The Global Education program is open to all secondary students in the Vernon area. This term, students involved in the program are from Fulton, VSS, Vernon Christian, Lumby’s Charles Bloom, and home schooled, said Murray Sasges, Global Ed coordinator who teaches at Fulton.
The students along with instructors from The Hub, including Robson, Matt Brown, Jessika LaFramboise and Starling Taylor, went through a series of different exercises to begin thinking about their own personal experiences with bullying. Some realized they themselves had bullied others without even being aware of it. Some had to bring up painful memories of what it was like being the victim.
“Half of us role played with different scenarios while the other half sketched the situation and gave their own visual perception of what was happening,” said the students.
The Global Ed class also discussed the harsh words that have been said to a group of Grade 6 and 7 students in the O-zone program at Ellison Elementary School, facilitated by teacher Kim Ondrik, and the ongoing impact those words had on them.
“It wasn’t easy for the students to create a show about something so negative and dangerous, but it will have a great impact and strong message,” said Stragier.
“It forces the viewer to be in a vulnerable position. The group has addressed different forms of bullying including cyber to physical, from being bullied by the media to being discriminated against simply by being themselves,” added Anderson.
The opening reception of Worthless is Sunday, March 3 at 7 p.m. at The Hub Arts Collective, 30th Avenue next to the Towne Theatre. The show will be up for the month of March.
The Hub gallery is open to the public Thursday to Saturday between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Admission is a minimum $5 donation.
