Say ‘NO’ to Bullying … Monster High Style

Bullying is a subject that is not very new, is it?It’s not talked about because the general public is mainly silently responsible for it but little do we know how much a person who is ‘bullied’ suffers in silence. When a baby is pudgy and overweight, he’s termed as cute and that same child who grows up with weight gain issues, he or she is termed ‘fat’ and ‘ugly’. If you choose to be an individual with your own set of opinions that do not conform to the rest of your classmates, you get ostracized, called names and even roughed up.

So what really is Bullying? Wikipedia defines Bullying as the use of force,threat, or coercion to abuse, intimidate, or aggressively to impose domination over others. The behavior is often repeated and habitual.

Now bullying does not apply only to kids. Parents be warned – this is a fine time to sit back and see if you’re child is a bully or gets bullied …or if you’ve done everything right, then you have a child that will grow into a kind and compassionate adult that can stand up to any sort of bullying.  Unfortunately some young bullies grow up into big bullies, no doubt due to their poor self-esteem or just because they revel in being mean. Yes, there are those sorts lurking around and sad to say ‘Bullying’ is no longer a small problem that can be conveniently swept under the carpet as it has been done in the years before.

Recognizing this as a growing problem, the innovators behind Mattel’s Monster High sought to tackle the subject head on and together with Limkokwing University of Creative Technology launched the ‘Monster High & Limkokwing Against Bullying Competition‘. The competition which ran for a month came to a spook-tacular finale last Thursday 14th November 2013 with the crowning of Team Alpha as the grand prize winner. Team Alpha who produced a moving video to the Anti-Bullying theme rose over 100 of other creative submissions which included Videos, Songs, T-Shirts and Posters.

Lil’ Girl with the Girls of Monster High

Both myself and Lil’Girl had the opportunity to witness first hand the amazing submissions by the finalist and we were blown away by the effort and creativity put in by the students as well as the organizers in highlighting such an important social issue.

Shocking Statistics

This collaboration between Mattel and Limkokwing University is not only timely as there seems to be a growing trend of Bullying growing not only in school nationwide but also Institutions of higher learning. Sandrikala a member of Team Alpha hoped that their video would raise more anti-bullying awareness, giving a voice to the helpless, and making a positive change in the world.

The winners Team Alpha with the judges – Ms. Kelly Yip,  Dato’ Tiffanee Lim , Ms. Nadine Ann Thomas & Mr. Ian Yee

Group Photo – All the finalist with the Judges

As an observer I was ‘wow-ed’ by all the submissions presented. I sat in silence during the presentation and was amazed at the creativity that the students at Limkokwing showed in all their submissions. The songs moved me, the videos had me transfixed and the posters and T-shirts were nothing short of splendid.

And as a mother I am glad to see that this social problem is being tackled and no less by giants such as Mattel and Limkokwing University. For those of you who were wondering how Monster High features in all this..it will be good to note that the characters of Monster High are ‘different’ yet through self-discovery and acceptance are proud of who they are. This theme carries such a strong message as it will give insight that we should never take the issue of Bullying too lightly.

And on that note let me end this by saying Thank You and Kudos to both Mattel and Limkokwing University for bringing this important subject to light. I’m sure more collaborations in the future will give rise to wide-spread knowledge, preventive action and a more tolerant society.