back to the future The Breakfast Club
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off stand by me and
et all dominated the box office and
still to this day they’re considered
some of the best films ever made but
what do all of these films have in
common in their own unique ways each one
of these films has influenced the status
quo of bullying not only have these
films entertained us for decades but
have also shaped our sense of cultural
and political awareness in Back to the
Future Biff was the epitome of
television bullies pushing kids around
and forcing Marty McFly to do his
homework et was unique mainly in his
species but also in his personality
despite these differences Elliott sees
right through et’s differences and
accepts him for just being et many
classic 1980s films shaped their culture
regarding bullying shifting the
situation from classic schoolyard
bullying to cyberbullying along with our
heightened dependence on technology as
the early 1990s and 2000s progressed
today cases of cyber bullying far exceed
those of traditional bullying as seen in
films social media and smartphones have
had a tremendous influence on the way we
interact with our peers today about four
out of every five teens in the u.s. use
social media regularly
despite parental concerns about the
overuse of social media I would actually
argue that social media is a resource
for teenagers to learn and grow through
sharing information and developing
critical social skills in this context
social media is a very positive and
helpful aspect of our lives as a student
journalist I have had I’ve seen the
power of both social media and
traditional broadcast media on people it
not only shapes personal opinions but
also shapes the way we see the world as
a whole as humans we cannot be
everywhere at once but the media is our
extra set of eyes our extra set of ears
and our extra brain that helps us
understand and develops ideas the media
is our voice I have used the power of
journalism to my advantage producing
stories on our schools news network
regarding civic engagement
and social justice in my short broadcast
career I had traveled to a homeless
shelter DUI retention center fire
station urban farm hospital and even
Washington DC all of these experiences
not only affected my perspective of the
world but also helped my viewers
understand that journalists don’t just
have to report on crime or weather or
entertainment but can also be a positive
and influential force of change in the
world however many people especially
teens have used the power of
cyberbullying the power of the media for
the wrong reasons
with technology readily available to us
the cyberbullying fire is only being
fueled technology isn’t bad but the way
we utilize it can be harmful
according to stop bullying an online
resource that strives to provide useful
information from various government
entities for the Prevention of
cyberbullying has found that more teens
statistically nowadays are being cyber
bullied than ever before within schools
in fact according to Intel security a
whopping 89 percent of teens have seen
cyber bullying firsthand and according
to the cyber bullying Research Center
one in three teens had actually been
cyber bullying cyber bullying has become
a major problem for teens everywhere no
matter if they experience it as a
bystander or a victim cyberbullying
victims are made to feel helpless
because the Internet is public and
permanent and it’s exactly why only one
in 10 teens wear a cyber bullied
actually report it to their parents or
guardians unlike traditional bullying
cyber bullying cannot be escaped there
is no off button in traditional physical
bullying one has the power to just run
away and not interact with the bully
physical wounds heal but mental scars do
not cyber bullying cannot be escaped our
interconnected world forces everyone
even if they do not know each other to
be connected in some way the Friends of
friends ‘facebook concept easily
explains this let’s say that an
embarrassing picture was posted on
facebook of Joe Joe’s friends I’ll see
that picture because Joe’s friends know
kids that Joe doesn’t know the kids that
Joe doesn’t know or his friends of
friends
can now also see that embarrassing
picture now everyone has seen that
picture and even if it’s taken down
everyone has already seen it the damage
is already done
social media was not created for
negativity in the words of Facebook
creator Mark Zuckerberg when you give
everyone a voice and give people the
power this system usually ends up in a
really good place so what we view our
role as is giving people that power
social media was intended to give people
a voice not suppress their dignity I
strongly believe that all forms of media
have the power to be a positive force in
our often negative and divided world the
media has so much power in shaping our
mindsets well it is easy to point out
instances of bullying and negativity
through media
we cannot discount the importance of
positive influences in media that tends
to get lost and ignored between all the
hatred and disgust in our world public
figures including Zuckerberg many of
whom are looked up to as role models
have taken the initiative to spread
positivity and support through their
social media accounts actress Sophia
Bush as you can see on the screen is a
well known for her lead role in the
popular crime show Chicago PD and is
also well known for her social media
accounts rather than primarily using it
for self-promotion which instead
utilizes it as a way to spread up
uplifting messages to her 2.8 million
Instagram followers and 1.3 million
Twitter followers each quote or picture
introduces a different concept with the
intent of positively impacting even just
one of her followers lives it is clear
that Bush recognizes the positive
potential of social media whether it is
mentioning a motivational quote
captioned with an uplifting statement or
simply just a direct tweet or post that
explicitly offers support to victims of
cyberbullying
every instance has the power to be
positive and influential and ultimately
help even save someone’s life
unfortunately suicide is a leading cause
of death among young people worldwide
according to a study from Yale
University victims of bullying are 210 9
percent more likely to consider suicide
than non
most people disregard cyberbullying as
soft or easily avoidable but in reality
cyberbullying is actually much more
tolling on young people cyber bullying
is not a teen issue it is a rapidly
growing worldwide issue I firmly believe
that no person regardless regardless of
gender sexuality race religion
socioeconomic status personality type or
appearance chamade should be made to
feel inferior or discouraged through
cyber bullying online I am fortunate
enough to go to a school where cyber
bullying is strictly prevented at an
early age and where teens are aware of
the consequences of cyber bullying both
on themselves and others I hope that
this TED talk and further educate my
classmates as well as other viewers
online about how humans have the power
to make others feel positive about
themselves through social media which
has the potential to positively shape
this world so let’s make encouragement
kindness compassion and empathy the next
trending hashtags thank you
[Applause] [Music]