Bullying includes behaviors that center on making someone else feel unsatisfactory or focuses on depreciating someone else. It includes physical harm, harassment, and demeaning others to exclude someone from a group or society. Data suggests that teenage bullying is more common among younger teens rather than older teens which may mean that young teens are susceptible to physical bullying while the older teens are more likely to use more enlightened way of bullying which may not be identified directly.
So to spread awareness about this sensitive issue we held a life class on 16th of September which was about bullying. An initiative was taken by Vagisha ma’am who had asked us to come up with various ways to promote this issue. So some of my friends and I decided to paint a wall to aware people that bullying is not welcomed anywhere and should not be taken lightly but there is space but only for kindness. Bullying is something which has different levels so for some it stops after teasing but for some, they go under depression and may end up in other dangerous circumstances so in a school where I have personally seen it happening around me it is important to create a safe and welcoming environment.
We decided to get inspiration from an artist called Kelsey Montague who is a New-York based artist. We painted two walls, one the first one we painted a butterfly whose wings represents freedom. By freedom, I mean different thoughts, different ideologies and being unique. Everybody is unique but we have to learn to appreciate them instead of finding ways to mock them and we mentioned quotations like “you are important”, “you is kind” which is designated both to the person who is bullied and the person who bullies. One the second wall we painted Biceps which represents the strength. The strength to stand up for something wrong happening around you or to make your voice heard. These graffiti created a symbol of all those people who get bullied every year and to make them realize that they are a survivor as even after they have been through so much they are alive and they need to gather the strength to raise their voice against the wrong.
The learning outcome achieved during this CAS experience is LO1 which is identified own strengths and develop areas for growth as all the part of the graffiti painting needed different techniques for example in one part there were small mosaics to be painted while in another part it was a large space with patterns to paint. So I identified my strength that I could do the patterns better as doing the small mosaic needed a lot of patience which I need to develop. Later on, if I finish doing the areas which had to be covered with a pattern I used to help with the mosaic which is how I used to develop my weakness into a strength. LO2 which is to demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process. The first challenge was that we had limited amount of time so we had adjusted the time for everybody as someday not everybody could come early in the morning or do stay back in the evening or not come to school on Saturday but somehow we managed to communicate with everybody and made the decision which is appropriate for everybody. The other challenge was that some parts were at a height which could not be reached even with the stool so we needed tall students who could reach that height and complete painting that part of the butterfly.
The other learning outcome is LO 3 which is to demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience as planning is an essential key in graffiti painting. But before that taking the initiative to plan is even more important.We had to begin with the end in mind about what message we want to promote so after deciding that we draw a mural that we want to paint then decide which colors and techniques to be used. With that the quotations that we need to write “You is kind” and “You is smart” etc. After planning what exactly we want on the wall we took advice from our visual arts teacher Pankti ma’am so we know that we are on the right track and today when I see the graffiti wall I realise that all the hard work paid off and it is exactly how we wanted it to be and I can say that because we had a vision of how it should look like.
The other learning outcome is LO4 which is to show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences so as time was a problem we had to arrange for transport early in the morning or after school and ask for permission even though some of the students were not ready to come. But there were a few students who never missed a day even if they had some commitments they somehow managed to come which shows the commitment towards this CAS project.
The other learning outcome is LO5 which is to demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively. The key element here was communication so whenever anybody gave their suggestion we made sure it was welcomed in order to work collaboratively. Everybody had different ideas about just one aspect but everybody suggested later on which idea they wanted to move forward with so the synergy was visible.
The other learning outcome is LO6 which is to demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance. So as bullying is faced by teenagers, in general, it is a global issue faced worldwide and by making a graffiti wall painting we decided to promote this global issue at a local level by showcasing it in the school.
The other learning outcome is LO7 which is to recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions. We need to put forward a message which does not offend anybody so the choice of words in our graffiti had to choose very wisely. Even though we don’t promote the bully we did not want to directly write something bad about them but by framing it in a way that the message is also crystal clear and is not offensive to anyone.
Even while we were painting it people were so curious about why were we painting? What were we painting? but everybody said one thing that we cannot wait for it to be completed and after it did finish it looked spectacular. I don’t just admire it for its beauty but the message it symbolizes and every time I walk across that graffiti it makes me proud and positivity.
