A Central Otago teen anti-bullying group has won an Australasian award for its work.
Sticks'n Stones has received a cyber smart award in the 2016 Staar (Strategy to Action Awards Recognition) awards held by the Australian and New Zealand Mental Health Association.
The anti-bullying group was set up in 2013 by 25 high school pupils through the Central Otago Rural Education Activities Programme.
Its aim was to take positive online action to reduce cyberbullying.
The group now has about 90 members, aged from 11-19.
The Staar awards honour individuals, organisations and projects which aim to address and combat bullying in schools, workplaces and online.
Sticks'n Stones project facilitator Karla Sanders, of Alexandra, said members of the group were speaking at a national conference on bullying in Surfers Paradise, Australia, next month, and would receive the award at that event.
‘‘It's very exciting for us and an endorsement of what we do with the focus on our programmes being student-led. We're consulting young people and working alongside them in co-constructing resources and programmes.''
The group's programmes had now gone further afield, with Columba College recently being the first Dunedin high school to sign up,
Mrs Sanders said.
