Bullying is an issue whose repercussions stick around for a long time. It’s effects are dangerous and not at all uniform. The extent of the effect may ruin someone’s life. In an attempt to stop this, some people from our grade came together with help from teachers. There were many activities planned and one of them included painting on the wall. A teacher had recommended my name for this part, and that is how I was in the group for helping to stop bullying. We created two paintings on the walls of the school. I must admit I did not have much to do with the planning part as I was involved with the group much later, the walls were already decided and so were the basic ideas, I was called to paint, which I don’t mind as I love painting and by doing what I love, I was helping somebody. But I did help with the design of the wings and what to be painted where and how, as my friends trusted my artistic knowledge for the best results.

There are several learning outcomes which I covered through this activity:

LO1: Painting is my strength. It is my favorite hobby and having practiced it for several years, I can say that I have become competent in it. I think it is important to know your strengths and weaknesses because you can create your plan of action accurately, if it is your strength how to use it and if it is your weakness how to overcome it.

LO2: The challenging part was the painting was very big and on a wall. I had always painted on paper and canvases before, so I didn’t know the surface very well. The painting was 10 times bigger than the biggest painting I made. And it was on a wall, I had always painted sitting down, snug and comfortable in the spot, but this was very different. We had to stand on tables and chairs and stretch our bodies to reach the top, something I had never done to paint.

We overcame this with practice. We painted for almost a month, so by the end, we were well equipped with how to paint on a wall and sometimes we repainted the part which was bad, as it must’ve been painted in the beginning. Undertaking new challenges shows and increases your potential and puts you through tests which might come in handy. It also builds your confidence. Next time I am asked to paint on a wall, I will be better equipped.

LO4: The painting was very big. I am used to completing a painting in 2 days and this took a month. Its size and also the design. The triangles in the middle were really tiring and almost everybody had given up on them. I didn’t but it did  take a lot of motivation to persevere to complete it. It ended up looking the best part and so I am happy I committed to complete it.

The easiness to persevere or commit depends on the activity I have to do, here, since it was painting it wasn’t that difficult.

LO5: Working in teams is a challenging task for me. I prefer working alone as it gives me room to explore my creativity at lengths. I am not vero social person and collaborating with people is therefore not my cup of tea. During this activity too, I was a bit intimidated by the size of the group, but it turned out to be okay, and we were able to accomplish what we aimed for.

LO6: Bullying is an issue which kids face around the globe. Bullying’s aftermath is hazardous, it leaves people insecure, underconfident, hurt and unable to trust. It causes kids to lose faith in humanity and these are the people that form the society, which is turning inhuman day by day. Bullying also hampers a person’s potential success. There are many things people refuse to do just because they will be judged and probably bullied for it. So many opportunities and talent lost because someone was bored and decided to pick on others for fun. I am glad that I was a part of this and had contribution in stopping bullying.

LO7: We had to make sure that through the way we have adopted, we, in any way, do not promote bullying or encourage people to do it, or make victims of bullying make feel bad about themselves. We therefore put all kinds of positive message in the paintings and used bright colors to depict positivity. The paintings as a whole just gave good vibes and lighten up the mood of the viewer.

Some learner profile characteristics that I developed were: Thinkers(creatively put forward our message), Communicators( we were a huge team and therefore communication was a must), and Caring ( we were in support for victims of bullying). I am happy and thankful for being a part of this experience and I feel proud every time I see a person clicking photos with the painting with a big smile on their face.