Heart wrenching accounts about the impact of hurtful words and comments form Victor Scott Primary’s submission for the Live. Love. Life. Anti-Violence Art Exhibition.

The artistic showcase on display at the Masterworks Gallery concludes on March 4. Around 199 artistic entries were received for the exhibition, including an audio visual submission from the students who comprise the “Victor Scott Hype Kings”

As described by Darren Woods, the Gang Violence Reduction Team’s Youth and Outreach Prevention Manager the “Victor Scott Hype Kings” are a part of the Primary School Prevention Initiative delivered by the GVRT in conjunction with Living Legends Community Organisation and Victor Scott’s school administration.

As a part of the programme, it was decided that the Hype Kings would enter the Live. Love. Life. Anti-Violence Art Exhibition.

Mr Woods said: “We tasked the young men in our Hype Kings programme to create a Social Justice Project of their choice. As a group we brainstormed different ideas with the young men who decided they wanted to explore and create a message around hurtful statement adults have said to young people and the impact of those statements. We also found different ways to achieve this with the young men and collectively decided to conduct a social experiment.”

The young men created and distributed a survey for approximately 40 young people between the ages of 9 and 12 to complete anonymously.

Mr Woods continued: “The surveyed youth wrote painful and hurtful statements of what adults have said to them. The criticism left a lasting effect. The Hype Kings read out some of the criticisms and statements and the project was recorded and submitted as part of the Live. Love. Life. Anti-Violence Art Exhibition.”

In the video (https://mediazilla.com/account/dashboard/videos or https://we.tl/t-Fz5AhgZjQm), the Hype Kings reflect on the various statements.

The Minister of National Security, Wayne Caines had an opportunity to view the video at the Masterworks exhibition last week and said: “I would like to congratulate all 13 of these courageous young men for their hard work, dedication and ability to create and share a such a powerful message. These young men represent the voice of young people in Bermuda. I encourage everyone to watch, to listen and carefully reflect on the sentiment of our young people as to how our words and actions affect them. We also extend special thanks to Victor Scott Primary Principal, Kennelyn Smith and the teaching staff for their support of the students in throughout this initiative. Thanks also to Darren and the GVRT as well as to Ian Coke, Founder of the Living Legends Community Organization and Courtney Smith, Programme Director of the Living Legends Community Organization. Their involvement and leadership is inspiring and the impact it has on the students in immeasurable.”

The students of Victor Scott’s Hype Kings include: Shane Smith, Ayce Simons, Kingston Lekki, Zaeviun Lauder, Sincere Smith, Jahkeyo Seymour, Filiakai Camara, Nijasz Mello, Mehki Wilson, Nyree Trott, Jayden Trott, Xy-Unn Simmons and Lennox Peets.

As a reminder, Minister Wayne Caines announced a partnership with Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art to host an exhibition in an effort to raise awareness about reducing violence in our community.

*Press release issued by the Government of Bermuda Department of Communications.