Some young Ottawa moms have found their voice. And it is a powerful one.
When they were bullied on line after appearing in a CTV story, they put together their own anti bullying campaign called "We’re Winning."
It's a powerful message from a group of young women who have felt at times they didn't have any power or any worth.
“It's really hard being a young mom,” says an emotional Kyra Myers.
“There are been many times I’ve been judged, bullied, put down,” says Madison Junkin, in one of the videos.
The 17-year-old mother is the star of one of these videos an unexpected role, after an unexpected set of circumstances.
It all came about as a result of a story CTV Ottawa did on some of the young mothers at the Youville Centre a few weeks ago, as part of a reaction piece on Kylie Jenner having a baby. The on-line story that prompted a slew of nasty comments on social media, aimed at some of the young moms. The comments shocked them and shook them.
“To be honest, I cried at home myself,” says Clarissa Arthur, the media and communications spokesperson with the Youville Centre, “It hurt my feelings to know it was going to damage these girls.”
But Arthur says they gathered the girls together to talk about the experience and figure out how to approach it?”
“We got everyone together and said, “Hey, how do we want to respond to this in the most appropriate way?”
They decided to make a video and reached out to a local communications company for help.
The result was a whole anti-bullying campaign called "We're Winning."
“It was really easy to come up with the campaign name,” Thomas Cumberbatch told the young women at today’s launch. Cumberbatch is the owner of Godzspeed Communications, “because when I think of what you do, I see winners.”
“It was really a no-brainer to help out with this project,” adds Dom Llanos with K Collective, that helped put the project together.
The anti-bullying campaign has both empowered the girls and helped them realize their self-worth.
“Don't judge us,” says Kyra Myers, “We are really trying, you know.”
“It hurt,” says Madison Junkin, about the on-line comments, “but at the same time I wasn't going to let them get to me because I know I'm doing a great job.”
“Nothing can take me down because I have somebody who looks up to me and makes my heart full,” adds Ashley Dawson-Buchanan, a young mother at the Youville Centre.
The launch of their videos today coincides with National Pink Shirt day to counter on-line bullying. Their website www.werewinning.ca will stay on-line for several weeks as part of their on-going campaign.
Youville Centre’s We’re Winning Campaign- Ashley from Youville Centre on Vimeo.
Youville Centre We're Winning Campaign- Taina from Godzspeed Communications on Vimeo.
Youville Centre's We're Winning Campaign- Maddie from Godzspeed Communications on Vimeo.
