25 June 2013

Young people come together for Youth Action Anti Bullying Hui hosted by the charities Blue Light and Youthline

A group of 70 young people meet last Saturday (22 June) on Auckland’s North Shore to spend the day discussing bullying and what can be done to address the issue from a youth perspective. The outcome of the Hui, which was organised by Blue Light and Youthline, was to develop a very practical set of resources to support anti bullying behaviour including an emotional first aid kit; an anti-bullying/celebrating youth campaign to be delivered via social media, a smart phone app, a parent support pack and content to be delivered via seminars.

“Bullying is widespread in New Zealand and has been shown to result in poor educational, social and emotional outcomes for our young people” said Brendon Crompton, Blue Light acting CEO. “The digital world has added a new dimension to bullying and having a group of young people come together to talk about bullying and find ways to manage and reduce it is a fantastic opportunity. The outcome of the hui is to develop a set of practical resources which will effect real change for our young people”.

During the day long Hui attendees participated in interactive workshops and heard guest speakers Levi ‘Nek Minnit’ Hawken and Tori Mcauley who both shared inspiring personal stories around bullying. Willie Losia was the MC for the day.

“Bullying is repeated, deliberate and harmful behaviour towards others. It means one person has power over another. It involves young people; their peers, adults, parents, school and home environments, and the world young people grow up in and we must all work together as a community to eliminate it from our society” comments Youthline Acting CEO, Glenda Schnell.

The project was facilitated by Blue Light in partnership with Youthline and funding was provided by Punanga Haumaru. Punanga Haumaru provides funding for community action that encourages positive social behaviour and reduces bullying of children and young people (0-19years). Te Punanga Humaru aims to build community ownership and a commitment to addressing bullying and has a preference for projects that are collaborative, have support from across the community and have a well-thought out plan to effect local change.

Blue Light has a strong vision of Empowering Youth with all programs and activities designed to; reduce the incidence of young people being an offender or victim of crime and to encourage better relations between young people, their parents, the police and the communities we live in. www.bluelight.co.nz

Youthline
For over 42 years, Youthline has been the first point of contact for young people in New Zealand to access a wide range of youth development and support services. Our primary focus is to engage young people and their families - both those who seek assistance and those who wish to develop themselves. Find out more: www.youthline.co.nz

New Zealand Blue Light
New Zealand Blue Light is a registered charity and community policing youth program that for the past 30 years has run programs and activities for youth throughout New Zealand free from drugs, alcohol and violence.

Blue Light aims to reduce youth crime, build community partnerships, build young people’s self-esteem, enhance community safety as well as build positive youth and police partnerships. Blue Light New Zealand is a nationwide incorporated society which has a national executive committee and operates 74 branches nationwide. Each branch is responsible for sourcing their own funding to facilitate and provide their own youth community programs.

Blue light is supported by police officers, who carry out Blue Light activities over and above their normal police duties along with civilian volunteers. Those involved with Blue Light are passionate about youth and in particularly providing positive experiences for those who may otherwise not have an opportunity.

Although Blue Light is supported by police, the two operate totally independently and Blue Light does not receive any funding from police. Blue Light is thankful for the support of its corporate sponsor AA Insurance.

See www.bluelight.co.nz or visit www.facebook.com/nzbluelight

Blue Light originally began in Australia as a community policing initiative and remains very strong in all of the Australian States and is now active in the Solomon Islands, East Timor, Cook Islands, New Zealand and Scotland.

ENDS

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