One topic I was thinking of was how bullying and teasing can really affect a person in a bad way. I thought this would be a good topic to touch up on since bullying and teasing is actually a common thing these days which is honestly, really sad. I don’t think people actually realize that some of the things they say can hurt others, and so they really need to think about what they say, before they say it. A possible idea I had for this was actually a board game. You probably know about the game, Jenga, where you have to stack up a pile of blocks and carefully pull them out and then re-stack it. The whole point of the game is to get your tower as high as you can until it falls apart. The idea I thought of was that the Jenga tower, fully stacked, represented yourself as a person. Each insult or hurtful thing said would take away a block, making the tower weaker and more vulnerable each time. The whole concept I was trying to get across was using the game Jenga as a metaphor, showing how teasing can hurt a person until the point where they cannot take it anymore, making the tower collapse. I’m not sure if I would add something in about standing up for themselves, building them back up because I think that may contradict my topic, or at least lose focus on the aftermath of teasing. My message would be something like, “Teasing: It’s not all fun and games.” or something around there. It’s just a quick idea I thought of, but definitely have to think of some more. This would fit into the ‘Creating Peace’ category for Olelo.
Another idea I was thinking of revolved around another board game, incidentally, Scrabble. In Scrabble, you are given a certain amount of letters, and you have to build upon other words using the letters you have. I was thinking, what if we use the game of Scrabble kind of like a metaphor? It would be a chain reaction, how one thing leads to another, how one word can lead to another word. It could be on not doing meth, because of course, meth is a chain reaction. By doing meth even just once, you can form an addiction, and can lead to negative effects. In the idea I was thinking of, it would start with the word ‘Meth’, and can lead onto ‘Poor Hygiene’, since an effect of doing meth is the rotting of teeth and gums from the drug. Other words it can lead into are Illness, Hair loss, Paranoia, Weight loss, Hallucinations, Addiction, etc. Those are all the aftermath of doing meth, all a chain reaction. Of course, not in that specific order. The hard part would be doing the words in a way to fit them all, or it might be a bit confusing. If I were to do this idea, I’d have voice overs over it, explaining the reaction. The ending shot and message would be, “Meth. Not Even Once.” with the Scrabble letters spelling it out.
A third topic I thought of was smoking. I know a lot of research about the topic, since I did my past PSA's all revolving about smoking. Smoking can be really harmful to your health, and so it is important that a bad habit does not form. I still have to think more about an idea for this one, but I was thinking what if it was a conversation between two friends on the phone. One friend is debating whether or not to smoke, and the other friend is trying to convince them not to. The audience doesn't know that they're talking about a cigarette just yet, and they are thinking that they are talking about a crush or a guy. The cigarette is referred to as 'he'. Friend #1 is trying to talk her out of it by saying things like "He's not worth it" or something like that. The other friend counters it with "But he's smoking hot", which is technically true. Friend #1 tries again to stop her, and Friend #2 says things like "He takes my breath away." Friend #1 tells her about how 'he' can hurt you, and some of the bad things about 'him'. Friend #2 contemplates, and finally listens, and that is when the shot reveals her on the phone, staring at the pack of cigarettes and then tossing it into the trash can. The message I thought of was "Don't waste your breath on cigarettes. Don't Smoke." or something along the lines of that. I still have to think more about that idea because I'm not really sure it'll work out.
To conclude, three topics I have been thinking about for my third quarter PSA are anti-bullying, anti-meth and anti-smoking. Although PSA's are just 30 seconds, the hard part is finding a good idea for it. Right now I am still in the process of brainstorming up ideas, but here are three that I've thought of so far. Well, that is it for this week's constructive response! Thanks for reading! Bye!