A Forest Heights student hopes a video her family produced will help people stand up to bullies.
MacKenzie Zinck was attacked recently by a group of girls outside her school.
She says the incident that took place outside her high school in Chester Grant earlier this month inspired her to create a video.
In it, MacKenzie offers messages of support to those being bullied.
She wants people to know they’re not alone in these situations.
“They can stand up and they have a right to say something and stand up for themselves, some people don’t because they’re too scared,” says MacKenzie, “I want them to know it’s okay to stand up for themselves.”
Her mother, Sheena, explains why they also included footage of the attack.
“I was just so tired of these high school girls saying it wasn’t as bad as it was. People needed to see it. It was already out there for the world to see.”
The video has been viewed almost 7,000 times on Facebook.
Family member Natasha Ernst says they felt the need to respond after video of the assault began making the rounds.
“We saw the main video that other people posted, glorifying violence and posting it for the likes, and that took away from MacKenzie’s voice,” says Ernst. “We didn’t want that video to define MacKenzie and who she is because it’s not – she’s stronger than that.”
We are not sharing the link as the video shows graphic violence involving a number of minors.
The incident is currently before the courts.
Reported by: Ed Halverson
Twitter: @edwardhalverson
E-mail: halverson.ed@radioabl.ca
