Editorial: Anti-bully short films must see for locals (+videos)

Bullying is never ok.

Four short films produced by a Whangarei anti-bullying project have been released for the world to see.

The films were produced by the Tu Toa Whangarei anti-bullying project, which is linked to the Whangarei Youth Space.

They are extraordinary - conceived, written, acted, filmed, produced - everything was done by local youth.

Check out some of the videos:

Not only do they deliver a powerful message of support for our young people, Tu Toa may have also uncovered the next Peter Jackson, Cliff Curtis or Keisha Castle-Hughes - you never know.

If you know someone who has been bullied, or is being bullied, show them these films, watch them yourself, and make sure you tell them it's OK to ask for help.

This project has grown from a very small seed planted with the Youth Space two years ago.

My daughter was beaten up outside a Stan Walker concern in 2013. I wrote about it and Northlanders responded very strongly with the message that they wanted something done about youth bullies.

That simple message was passed in to Ryan Donaldson of the Youth Space.

Ryan, The Youth Space and Tu Toa Whangarei did the rest.

A community challenge involving youth - a community solution devised by youth.

It's something Whangarei should be proud of.

For the first time, these films are available for public viewing.

Please take a few minutes to have a look, it might change a young person's life.