I feel that the PYP Exhibition is a time where I truly got to dive into what I want to know, what I am curious about. During PYP X I felt a bit stressed but motivated to go on to see what are the results and what I can create. It was hard in a good way. At some points I actually was not that excited for the PYP Exhibition but everytime I always thought that this could change something. But all in all it was fun.
The topic I chose was ‘Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions,’ and our main focus was cyberbullying. Our central idea became: The vast growth of the digital world requires proper regulations to keep all users safe. I felt a strong connection to this topic and central idea because I have been cyberbullied and feel that we should make a system where the rules cannot be exploited. I felt like it was such a necessary topic to discuss. I feel that many of the internet regulations have been changing. We wanted to dig deeper to find which rules are relevant.
One of many challenges during the PYP Exhibition is the presenting phase, as I had huge amounts of stage fright presenting to people who were mainly wiser and older than me. People like that I felt would always be able to see the flaws. I was scared we were not as good as they expected and I had to practice over and over trying to make myself comfortable. Another challenge I faced was researching the topic itself as cyberbullying and internet regulations are a touchy and mysterious subject to talk about. It has so many opinions, facts and myths that it’s hard to decipher which is factual and which is not.
As a result of our group inquiry, we took some actions to make a difference. Our first action was an animation video to show kids the dangers of cyberbullying and why no one deserves to be cyberbullied. The second action was a proposal to add or revise rules to benefit everyone. The third was a petition to make people have a voice in the creation of the rules. Our actions impacted the community by first of all spreading awareness of the impacts and the dangers of cyberbullying, involving others’ voices to have updated ICT rules. The more important thing is that it develops our social, thinking and researching skills. These benefits have helped us grow as a true thinker and at the same time a caring learner.
Jamie Landon William – PYP-6 student
