STYMIE Launch

On Tuesday, April 20 STYMIE presenter Michael Jeh spoke to all year levels in the Robinson Centre about Stymie, a harm-reporting tool used in schools throughout Australia and now being used at Ballarat High School. 

Stymie provides a way for students to be kind and to be upstanders in their school communities. Stymie allows students to make anonymous notifications about inappropriate or concerning behaviours. Students can log in at any time of day at 

https://www.stymie.com.au/ and make a notification.

Michael outlined the laws in relation to cyberbullying and made students aware of a range of situations that they could avoid by being kind and behaving responsibly. He engaged students with personal stories about his days as a first class cricketer, his experiences of racism and his work as a wildlife guide in Africa where he took clients on safari. He linked his stories to the main messages of Stymie - be kind, show empathy, be aware of others and how they may be feeling and don’t be a bystander - be an upstander and say something. 

Michael also told students about Stymie Founder, Rachel Downie whose story can be found at: https://about.stymie.com.au/about/

“A number of years ago, a year 9 boy in my care committed suicide. And whilst – awfully – this was not the first time that this had happened in one of my communities, it was definitely the first time that I felt that it was preventable.

After this boy died, the students came forward with what we believed was life-saving information. They told us he was bullied and excluded, that he was experiencing family violence and that he had been talking about not wanting to be ‘here’ anymore. I know that if we had the details of this harm, we could have helped him, because despite checking in with him every day, he was too frightened to tell us what was happening.”

Ballarat High School students now have the opportunity to “say something”. We have been acting on several anonymous reports made by our students who have been concerned about the wellbeing of their peers, which can only be a positive thing for our school community moving forward.

Sharon Eppingstall

Assistant Principal 10-12