Oct 15, 2009 9:03 pm US/Eastern
Powerful Anti-Bullying Student Video Debuts On LI
30 Students Work With Nassau's Top Cop, Police Commish To Create Clip That Young People Can Relate With
GARDEN CITY, N.Y. (CBS) ―
A gripping and graphic video aimed at stopping hate crimes is creating a lot of buzz on Long Island.
The video is certain to provoke a strong reaction.
Student actors and their families looked on Thursday as Nassau County's police commissioner and county executive rolled the video for the very first time.
It was a labor of love and commitment from 100 Long Island teenagers who lent 30 hours of their time to help Nassau's Task Force on Bias Crimes write produce act and edit an emotional video with a powerful message.
"This is a very stark, graphic message of kids speaking to other kids," Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi said.
"Most of the hate crimes that we investigate and arrest people for involve kids 14-22 years of age," Commissioner Lawrence Mulvey added.
Amid images of the Ku Klux Klan, swastikas, nooses and anti-immigrant sentiment, all reminders of a hate crime that rocked this county in 1993.
These Garden City students weren't born when Colin Ferguson shot up the Long Island Rail Road train near their homes. As their community still deals with the aftermath, they are proud the middle school they attend has earned recognition for its anti-bullying and anti-hate crusades.
"It just should be an equal world,' one student said.
"I can believe in whatever I want to be and I can look however I want to be," another said.
The feeling they share is that the offenders are the ones who are weak.
"They are only doing this to you because there is something inside them," a student said.
"They are insecure and need to show how powerful they are," another said.
"If you see somebody being picked on don't be a bystander," another added.
All the middle and high school principals in Nassau will be given the new video to be premiered Thursday night at the Cradle of Aviation Museum.
Dr. Peter Osroff believes its message of tolerance can make a difference.
"The research actually shows that the most important role is that of the bystander," Osroff said. "It's when we see something wrong and we don't act."
At Thursday's showing the 39 student-actors who appear in the video and their families will be given the red carpet treatment as the video is premiered, hoping its impact will be felt from Patchogue and Farmingville to New York City.
The video was produced and paid for using asset forfeiture funds.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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