"Compete for Peace – Not War” Award Recipient Tasha T Speaks Out About Cyberbullying"
Reggae month in Kingston, Jamaica (February 2018) has been a great time of celebration and excitement. After I received the award for the “Compete For Peace -- Not War” for my inspirational song “Spread Some Love”, I was invited by the Bob Marley Foundation and Valerie Won Lee (World Citizen Artists founder) to partake in the Bigga Socially Aware School Tour at Manchester High School in Jamaica to talk to young people about social media, bullying, and coming together through art. I wrote “Spread Some Love” to promote peace and love and to encourage people to show some love by caring, sharing, and creating a peaceful environment for the children of today. I was honored to live out this mission on this tour.
Our main focus on tour was to enlighten the students about cyber bullying and how social media can greatly impact our lives.
We are now living in a cyber world, and it is proven again and again that children and teens are using social media in a negative way to hurt their peers. This means spreading the message of peace and love, particularly to our youth, is more important than ever before.
I sat on the panel with a group of four, including the Communication Manager from the Bob Marley Foundation, Mitzie Williams. We all had an opportunity to share and explain our views on the precautions that teens should take if they are being bullied at school. Personally, my advice to these students was to choose their friends carefully by having a friend who shares the same, positive goals. In addition, if they are being bullied at school, tell a friend, teacher, or a family member. I also reached out to the parents, encouraging them to take an active approach to their children’s lives. This way, they can make sure the children are monitored and to find ways to prevent the dangers that can occur with our children today.
Music played a huge role in our visit to the school. I performed my award-winning inspirational song “Spread Some Love” and my theme song “Educate Yourself,” and the other visitors performed, as well.
As a musical ambassador for Read Across Jamaica for the last six years, I aim to create a playful environment with the students through the music. This means I can reach out to them and teach them how to make better choices in life, stay positive, and prevent violence by living in love and peace.
I truly enjoyed my experience with the tour. It was my first time visiting the Manchester High School and my very first time visiting a high school as a musical ambassador. All in all, I had a fantastic time, and I will definitely do it again. I will take what I’ve encountered and learned through this tour to discuss the same topics about social media dangers and cyber bullying in the other schools that I will visit. Furthermore, I will write another song directly for the youth of the world about this important topic to keep spreading the message of strength and unity through art.
As artists, we should try our best to create music that can convey positive messages, positive quotes, directions and positive indicators of life. More than that, even, we’ve got to think about the children because they are our future. Through music and education, we can all work together to create peace in our communities and throughout the world.
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