A JOHN Tonkin College student who used a family story to teach others about the dangers of drugs has been selected as a finalist in a state-wide campaign.
The Students Advising Youth (SAY) Project is run by the Western Australian Police and encourages high school students to help educate their peers about being drug free and drug aware.
Year 11 student Jade Parker’s film was chosen with just nine others, with the winning student set to win $1000 and head to Canberra to present their film to the Prime Minister.
Jade’s film My Brother’s a Monster shows a young girl speaking about how drugs took her loving sibling away from her.
“I got the idea for my project from my family – what happens to the characters in the film happened to my mum,” she said.
“Her brother got into drugs and it got really bad – now he isn’t able to see his own kids.”
Jade said she started writing for her film as soon as she found out about the project.
“I’m really into movie making and that’s what I want to do when I leave school – I want to go to Murdoch University and study screen production,” she said.
The project is based on the idea young people are more inclined to listen to their peers about important issues like drug awareness than their parents or teachers.
“People always say that authority influences you the most but I think you make stonger connections with the people you’re close to,” Jade said.
“What they think rubs off on you and that’s why this project is important.
“I don’t want anyone to turn out the same way as my uncle.”
The project is open to all Western Australian teens and is supported by local Lions Clubs and Murdoch University.
For more information about the project and to watch the 2014 finalist films search for 2014 SAY Projects on Youtube.
