This blog post comes to us from All Out, an organization that is diligently working to end bullying and harassment for those in the LGBT community and their allies.
While attending the first Gay-Straight Alliance meeting of the school year on Sep. 18, a fellow student at my high school, Kelsey, told me about a video from the website allout.org. As the number of bullying awareness initiatives increases across the country, many organizations such as allout.org are developing activities that guide educators, parents, students, and citizens in their fight against this national epidemic. The two-minute video they produced showed people from all over the world coming together to bring awareness to LGBT equality.
We watched the video as a group, and as I listened to the comments around me, I realized that everyone thought the same thing: it was amazing. The simple video immediately impacted all of the students. I knew right then that I had to recreate it to make it more relatable to the students at my high school.
After the meeting, I immediately approached the GSA adviser, Dr. Jessica Ippolito, and told her about the idea I had. Within a day, we had a plan. I wanted to make a simple video that focused on bullying within high schools and the suicides of high school-aged students who were bullied.
On Sept. 25, I shot and edited the video. I never knew it would make an impact so quickly. Within a week the video got 586 views and was shown to allout.org.
For more motivational videos I highly suggest checking out allout.org, the website that inspired me, my teachers, and my friends. Without the wonderful help of fellow GSA student Kelsey, Dr. Ippolito, and the students and staff who took time out of their day to be in the video, the "Going All Out" campaign video from Delsea Regional High School would not have happened.