TWO students from Ballarat Grammar have led an initiative to raise awareness about bullying and the story of Dolly Everett.<\/p>\n
Dolly died of suicide at 14 years old after being bullied and her parents have since created Dolly’s Dream, a foundation which aims to address the impact of bullying.<\/p>\n
Ballarat Grammar Hayhoe House captains, Shelby Nevinson and Larah Butler, held an awareness day last week which started with a video explaining Dolly’s story which was shown to students.<\/p>\n
“Last Wednesday we made blue ribbons which we handed out at the start of the day for all senior school students to wear,” said Shelby.<\/p>\n
“They see the blue and they think of Dolly and they think of what actually her story was.<\/p>\n
“We also had a sausage sizzle where we raised a bit of money but the main thing was awareness.”<\/p>\n
Shelby and Larah are both boarders who come from remote farms, like Dolly.<\/p>\n
“This is something that the year 12s last year started in Hayhoe and we wanted to keep it going,” said Larah.<\/p>\n
“It hits close to home for a lot of boarders because Dolly herself was a boarder and lived on a remote farm which is like Shelby and me.<\/p>\n
“It’s a really important thing to raise awareness for.”<\/p>\n
Shelby said she hopes the day left a lasting impact on younger students.<\/p>\n
“I hope the younger years in particular know that cyber bullying is such a big issue and it’s still out there,” she sad.<\/p>\n
“I feel like they really need to see it and see the consequences social media causes.<\/p>\n
“Words can stay with you, they don’t just go away.”<\/p>\n