So, for my first poster, the topic I chose is bullying–specifically cyberbullying. As I am someone who’s had to deal with bullying growing up—in school, at home, and online—I felt I could do well on this topic since I resonate heavily with it having been through it and having it impact my life.
The audience I’m aiming at is people who cyberbully. I personally feel that focusing on bullies is most important because you should look at the core of the problem rather than treating the symptoms and hoping they go away on their own, right?
I interviewed one of my cousins in the 5th grade who attends public school, and I asked her quite a few questions about the status of bullying in her school. She told me that her school doesn’t tolerate bullying and the teachers do their best to teach students the consequences of bullying, but it’s not enough. I asked her if she had bullied someone before, and surprisingly, she said yes! I asked her to tell me why and her reasoning was because they were getting on her nerves. It made me realize that, yeah, some people can bully others out of frustration because they don’t know how to handle the situation they’re currently in.
The one thing that stood out to me from the entire interview, though, is her response when I asked her about why she thinks people bully in real life and online. She said, “I believe people bully because they sometimes have low self-esteem, and they feel that bullying will make them feel important or better than others.” For a 5th grader, I think she really hit that spot on, and I was surprised that she thought of that. Because most people don’t think about the reasons why people bully others–they only focus on the fact that they’re doing something wrong and they need to be punished for it.
And that led me to think about all the instances online of how so many people resort to bullying others because they want attention and they would do anything to receive that attention because they can’t get it around them. Whether it’s positive or negative attention, they don’t care. They just want to be perceived, and that’s something you should genuinely seek therapy for because it’s not healthy. That’s the reason why I chose to focus on cyberbullying and specifically on those who bully. I want to reach out to them and let them know that if they need help, then there is help out there for them, and they won’t get shamed for it.
When you first read what’s on this poster, you’ll probably think, “Wow, that’s very vulgar.” And, yeah, it is. That’s the point. I want people to look at this, mainly people who bully, and realize that, hey, yeah, that behaviour is not acceptable, and you shouldn’t speak to people this way. If you’re thinking that this kind of speech is okay and that there won’t be any consequences after you speak to someone this way, then you need a reality check.
So to explain the visual I had, the blue-ish black part is a phone, the light blue is supposed to be the light from the phone projecting the chat messages between two people, and the brown background is just a wooden table. I used magazine paper for almost the entire poster. on the half top, right and left sides are washi tape. After gluing them onto the poster, I painted over each section to make them stand out better. The chat messages are cut-out cardboard and I used printer paper to cover the top and make them white.
As for the text at the bottom, it’s a meme. I decided to use that phrase not only to speak efficiently to our generation of people who use technology and heavily use memes but also to point out the fact that people don’t take cyberbullying seriously and treat it as a joke. It’s more of a sarcastic jab at people who think cyberbullying is funny and not me being insensitive toward the topic of cyberbullying. Then I have the site link below it on where to go for someone who bullies and wants to receive help on how to stop and cope with the things in their lives that may be pushing them to bully others.
The colours I chose are mainly blues and browns. Personally, I feel those two colours resonate with the topic of bullying. And as someone who has synesthesia, I see the word “cyberbullying” in those colours as well.
For my second poster, I figured since I am focusing on bullying in the first poster that it would be a good idea to tie it in with mental health. I chose to focus this poster on encouraging students to recognize when they’re in need of help mentally and not be ashamed of it. Reaching out to people is the most important step to healing! The mental health counselling center GSU has could totally be that thing someone needs to help themselves, so encouraging them to make the step towards speaking up may give them the push they need.
I chose again to use mainly magazine paper. I cut out different parts from various magazines and glued them onto the poster in an abstract way to show how mental health issues are not just one of the million parts of you, but they’re also like an unfinished puzzle. It takes a certain kind of mind to make that distinction. It looks messy, and that’s the point.
The bottom part of the poster is a collage of different bodies of water. I wanted to give a visual of it looking like a floor but also hint that the floor can be like a body of water that you have to swim through to get to your destination. It’s a journey to seeking help for yourself. There’s the link to the GSU counselling center there as well, which would guide the person straight to where they should go need they want to speak with a counsellor.
On the top half, I wanted to give the illusion of a wall with a door in the middle. The door is supposed to symbolize the counsel’s office, which is where you would seek help. I used different home items to portray the office door as being a home and a peaceful place for you to relax and just feel comfortable to speak about your own issues. I also put a border around it to give more depth to show that it’s a door. On top of it, I have the text “help is a few knocks away.” Just a simple phrase that’s easy and welcoming.
Surrounding the door, I used cliffs and plants just to pull in some more nature as becoming one with nature is a huge part of the healing process. It’s accepting that you are a part of the world and that you can grow and become something bigger and better and beautiful just like the nature around you. And then there are some heart-shaped fireworks I found on a magazine page that I thought would just add some fun or joy to the poster overall. Because seeking help for yourself shouldn’t be a stressful situation, you know?