A 21st century spin on the Three Wise Monkeys has helped a Bright schoolgirl win acclaim for her video opposing cyberbullying.
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Illustrating the maxim “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil”, Grace Griffith had make-up applied to her closed eyelids, hands covering her ears and closed lips.
She then filmed herself, with the short piece ending with “Stop pretending . . . your eyes and ears aren’t painted on and your lips aren’t sewn together; speak up if someone you know is being cyberbullied . . . because no one wants to be a bystander”. Her eyelids, ears and lips then open.
The video was judged one of the top entries in the BackMeUp national anti-cyberbullying film competition, run by the Australian Human Rights Commission.
Grace, 16, will now spend a week at the NIDA drama school in Sydney with nine other teens this month.
They will make a community service announcement opposing cyberbullying that could be shown on television.
Grace, 16, a year 10 Bright P12 student, said the idea for the work came in a dream and she had then spent hours being made-up for two hours of filming.
She said she had endured some bullying at primary school.
“My aim is for people to see this and get the message out, even if it helps just one person,” she said.
“My experience is speaking up really does make a difference, even if it means being that one person who isn’t afraid to speak with the teacher or with a friend or an acquaintance.”