Congratulations to the finalists from the 2022 Youth Choices Film Competition! We are thrilled to announce our winner…
Busselton-based secondary student, Lucy Marden, wowed the judges at this year’s Youth Choices short film competition, taking out the top prize with her thought-provoking film, “Reflection”.
Lucy’s inspired submission was a solo project, shining a light on the obsessive behaviours that can be prompted by overuse of social media and the internet. “Reflection” powerfully illustrates the harmful mental health impacts of unhealthy online use in a very real way.
Last year, Lucy was named as one of the top ten finalists in the competition. This year, her entry was submitted independently and additionally to her remote studies at Australian Christian College (Albany).
The competition runner up was Mount Lawley Senior High School’s Timothy Jeffreys, with the film “Gaming: Don’t Get Sucked In”, depicting a young boy, heavily engrossed in a game, inching closer to the screen until it consumes him and becomes his reality. It cleverly serves as a reminder for young people that there is a life outside the screen to be enjoyed.
Third place went to Grace Taylor and Charlotte Blennerhassett of Cornerstone Christian College in Busselton, with their film “#PerfectLife”, which explored the topic of online addiction through the overuse of social media and the impact it can have on relationships with family and friends, and school life in general. In contrast, the storyline takes a turn to refreshingly illustrate how a healthy and balanced life can be achieved when social media is used wisely. Grace and Charlotte had twice the reason to celebrate – not only taking out third place, but also winning the popular Student Choice Award (supported by the Commissioner for Children and Young People), with their film voted by their peers as the favourite of the Top 10.
Congratulations to all the Top 10 Finalists, and thank you for your hard work and creativity, shown clearly in your films!
The 2022 Youth Choices Film Competition challenged high school aged students to creatively explore the issue of online addictions through the production of films up to three-minutes long. Entrants were invited to explore the risks of online activities ranging from chat rooms, cyber fraud, hacking, catfishing, excessive gaming, obsessive social media use, anti-social behaviours and the resulting issues which can arise from unhealthy online use.
The annual film competition is run in collaboration with WA Police Force and Constable Care Foundation and attracts hundreds of entries from secondary students across Western Australia. In teams of up to three, students explore safety risks and find solutions of a chosen topic through the safe environment of film.
Constable Care Foundation CEO, David Gribble, said the films produced this year were of a high standard and are important in driving awareness about the social issues affecting young people today.
“Every year we are amazed at the submissions we receive for this competition and this year was no exception. It’s a known fact gaming and overuse of devices and the internet is a huge problem in our society, causing harm to many young people,” Mr Gribble said.
“The entries we received this year were outstanding. It is refreshing to know these students deeply understand what it means to have an unhealthy reliance on devices, the internet and gaming and are aware of the potential flow on effects to families and friends. Through this competition, we hope to empower more students to identify unhealthy online use and let them know there is help and better choices available to them,” he said.
The 2022 Youth Choices Film Competition is a collaboration between WA Police Force and Constable Care Foundation’s youth brand Youth Choices. The 2022 Student Choice award is supported by the Commissioner for Children and Young People.
VIEW THE FINALIST FILMS
