The new phase of the Stop it at the Start advertising campaign has launched. The Hidden Trends of Disrespect aims to educate parents and care givers of young people aged 10-17 years about the new and hidden forms of disrespect young people are engaging with every day online. Read the Minister’s media release.
The Media backgrounder provides an overview of the campaign development and media buy.
More than 500 students around the country have participated in the Stop it at the Start campaign’s Respect Competition to help foster greater awareness about healthy relationships and respect.
Students from every state and territory took part in the competition that encouraged young Australians to show what respect means to them, putting thoughts to paper to create heartwarming and inspiring stories.
The competition gave students a creative outlet to express their views about respect and a way for parents, carers and teachers to see what it means to young people.
Two young winners have had their drawings transformed into an animation by a professional animation studio and received a $500 gift card for themselves and one for their school. Ten runners-up across both categories were each awarded a $250 gift card. Read the Minister’s media release.
Much-loved Australian media personality and founder of Gotcha 4 Life, Gus Worland, has joined the campaign as a Stop it at the Start ambassador.
Speaking about the new and hidden forms of disrespect young people are being exposed to everyday online, Gus acknowledges the challenges parents and carers face.
“I think it's really hard for parents at the moment to understand the type of world that some of their kids are in. Unfortunately, with social media, they're one click away from a world which must be very, very confusing for them,” he said.
Encouraging proactive conversations about the online influences impacting young people and how they form ideas about respect is vitally important – but not always easy to do.
“As adults, parents and carers, we need to be vulnerable and brave ourselves, to have tough conversations with children. We must speak up at every opportunity and play a role in breaking the cycle of disrespect.”
Gus is also on the judging panel for the Respect Competition which gives students in years 4 – 9 the opportunity to create an animation storyboard about what respect means in their world. The winning submission to be turned into a professional animation and receive a $500 gift card for themselves and one for their school.
Find out more about the Respect Competition
Zara Seidler, Stop it at the Start campaign ambassador and co-founder of youth news service, the Daily Aus, talks about how we all have to play our part in ending violence against women.
“It’s not one of us, it’s all of us.”
Since starting the Daily Aus, Zara has seen how social media can shape young people’s views on gender and respect.
“We have these echo chambers now on social media that mean that young people are having the same kind of views reaffirmed to them and they're not really engaging with diverse perspectives as they would have in real life. That becomes particularly dangerous when that content that they're seeing and that they're engaging with is harmful or disrespectful.”
She also highlights the role parents and carers play in supporting their young people, both online and in the real world.
“To create a more respectful society, we need to see in the online world more examples of healthy, respectful debate happen. Individuals can be positive role models for the young people in their lives by creating spaces for conversations with them and also by modelling what respectful conversation and what respectful relationships look like both online and in the real world.”
By talking to young people about respect, we can have a positive influence on their attitudes and behaviours as they grow into adults. It’s important to be clear about what is acceptable, and model this ourselves.
The Excuse Interpreter can help you avoid using seemingly harmless phrases that might send mixed messages to young people about respect.
Luke and Daniel Mancuso, brothers and creators of the social enterprise Yiayia Next Door, have joined the Stop it at the Start campaign to talk about the role adults play in helping kids navigate the online world and the power of positivity.
Young kids can be exposed to negative content online and the adults in their lives need to help them understand and learn how to deal with this type of content.
“It’s important for adults to call out the disrespect from the start because they are the role models and the kids do see that,” Daniel said.
Luke and Daniel created Yiayia Next Door as a platform for good after their own experience with domestic violence.
“Yiayia Next Door is a social enterprise Daniel and I founded in 2019. It's in honour of our late mum who sadly passed to domestic violence. We never want anyone to experience what we've been through in today's society,” Luke explains.
When adults—parents, family members, friends, teachers, coaches, employers, work colleagues and other community role models—work together as a team to promote respect, we set a positive example for our young people.
Generation Respect has practical tips to help you build the confidence to make a start.
