Poet puts anti-bullying message online

A CLONAKILTY poet has produced a poetry film on bullying.

‘Because I am Human’ is a three-minute, anti-bullying poetry film, written by Dave Lordan, as a gesture of help towards a young relation of his suffering from bullying.

The poem was aired on RTÉ, reaching an audience of hundreds of thousands. Since then, the text of the poem has been used as resource in schools around the world – many have made posters of the poem, others have used it as a speech choir piece.

This autumn, with the support of dozens of community funders and volunteers, Bogmanscannon.com, the popular culture website founded by Dave Lordan and Karl Parkinson, got together with filmmaker Padraig Burke to make a film of the poem. The lead role was given to Shane Fitzgerald, a young actor from O’Devaney Gardens in inner city Dublin.

After premiering at the Dublin Book Festival last week, the three-minute film is now released to the public online and can be freely used in perpetuity as a not-for-profit anti-bullying resource.

‘You can show your support for the anti-bullying message of the film by sharing on social media, liking it on Youtube, and letting teachers and youth workers know about it,’ says Dave, who grew up in West Cork. Dave also gives anti-bullying talks, workshops, performances and film showings to schools and community organisations. Contact him at [email protected] or 087 0921117.