Take ACTION against bullying : 2nd edition

A script writing competition to combat bullying related to sexual orientation and gender



Mobilize yourself and take part in a contest by Interligne: send us a scenario on the subject of bullying, and you could win the chance to see your scenario turned into a short film and diffused on social networks as part of an awareness campaign!

Our organization

At Interligne, our mission is to offer help and support anyone who has questions or concerns about sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. To refer to all of these realities, we use the term LGBTQ+. If you don’t know this term, check out Diversity vocabulary to learn more.

We also offer tools and support to anyone between the ages of 12 and 25 who wants to create a GISA in their school or other youth environments: a GISA is a safe space open to everyone, which can be used to raise awareness, but also to make people who represent sexual and gender diversity shine.

Now that you understand Interligne, you can see why our contest is focused on issues surrounding sexual orientation, identity and gender expression. Helping people who are concerned with these realities is our “raison d’être”!

How can you participate in the contest?

Participating is simple. You just need to:
  • Put together a team of 3 to 8 people
  • Fill in the application form for your team
  • Consult our list of themes and choose the one that inspires you the most.
    From there, you and your team are free to create an original scenario that could turn into an impactful video to diffuse on social media as part of an anti-bullying campaign. So don’t hesitate, let your imagination go, and send us a scenario that will get people thinking about bullying and some potential solutions!

    Who can participate?

    To apply for the contest, you and your team must either be between the ages of 12 and 18, or attend a high school, college or Cegep.
    Good to know : Bullying can affect everyone! Sometimes, people who are heterosexual and cisgendered may be subject to similar kinds of discrimination as members of the LGBTQ + communities, as assumptions about their sexual orientation or gender expression can be hurtful. This kind of discrimination can be just as serious.

    What can you win?

    If your screnario is selected, your video will be produced by a professional crew and you can choose to participate in the shooting of your video, with support from the crew and personalities from the artistic community.
    Winning teams will be invited to stay in Montreal while the video is filmed with accommodations, transportation and meals provided for by Interligne. You will get to be on set during filming and could even play a part in your video! On top of all that, Interligne will keep you busy with exciting activities in the city.

    So, if you have a creative mind and desire to take ACTION for change, this contest is for you!

    Our jury

    To be unveiled soon!

    Our partners

  • Le Ministère de la Famille
  • La Fédération autonome de l’enseignement (FAE)
  • La Fédération des syndicats de l’enseignement (FSE)
  • La Fédération des établissements d’enseignement privé (FEEP)
  • La Centrale des syndicats du Québec (CSQ)

    • Contest rules



    To get a PDF version of the contest rules, click here.

    1. Important dates

    Competition launch date: October 2019
    Deadline for submission of the scenarios: December 20, 2019
    Unveiling of the winners: January 31, 2020
    Shooting video clips: during the school break week, March 2 to 6, 2020
    Diffusing of videos on social media: spring 2020, in the form of an awareness campaign.

    2. Contest eligibility criteria

  • You and your team members must either be between the ages of 12 and 18, or attend a high school, college or cegep, and live in Quebec.
  • Groups presenting a scenario must be composed of 3 to 8 people.
  • Adult help is allowed.
  • We encourage people belonging to a traditionally marginalized group and people from all walks of life to apply.

    3. How can you participate?

    Simply fill in the application form and send it to us by December 20th, 2019, accompanied by your scenario. Send it to us by one of the two following ways:
  • email : [email protected]
  • by snail mail :
    Take ACTION against bullying Contest
    Interligne
    C.P. 1006, succursale C
    Montréal (QC) H2L 4V2

  • Only one application and one scenario will be accepted per group.
  • The file must be complete and the information given must be accurate.
  • You can also shoot an excerpt or test video and send it along with your application, but it is not mandatory.

    4. Description f the prize

  • Attend or participate in the shooting of your video, with support from the professional film crew and personalities from the artistic community.
  • Play a part in your video (optional)
  • A stay in an accommodation in Montreal with transportation, meals, and activities for you and your group.

    5. General conditions of participation in the contest

    Three scenarios will be selected from all submitted applications. For a scenario to have the chance of being named winner, here are the conditions to respect:
    Length : The capsules should last between 1 and 3 minutes maximum.
    Evaluation criteria for scenarios:
    Your scenario will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
    Adherence to the theme , originality, structure of the story, style of writing, characterization of places and characters, impact at the end (message) and feasibility of the scenario.

    Content of the scenarios :
  • Your synopsis (plot of your scenario) should be inspired by one of the themes we propose, and should address the realities of sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression or stereotypes.
  • Scenarios must be written in French or English. This contest is fully bilingual, i.e. the capsules will be produced in the language in which they were written and will be subtitled in the other language.
  • All forms of writing are allowed, provided that the result is readable, understandable and clear: texts, dialogues, drawings, diagrams, etc. However, we advise you to type your scripts on the computer and to send printed pages, this will facilitate the reading for our jury. If the content is not clearly legible, the application will not be accepted.
  • Your scenario should not contain only dialogues. We must give as much detail as possible so that we understand the scenes, by specifying at least the type of space (park, school, street, etc.) and the number of people required for all the roles.
  • Your scenario must be realistic and achievable.
  • No plagiarism from another scenario or another video will be eligible: the proposed scenarios must be original.
  • You can play in your own video, but it is not mandatory. You will need to specify if you want to appear in the video and the role you want to play. Ideally, people wishing to play in their video should have theatrical skills, to ensure the quality of the videos made. Auditions will be held in the month of February 2020 for members of winning teams who wish to play a role in their video. Depending on where you live, the interview can be done in person or by Skype.

    Participation clauses :
  • By entering the contest, you, and if you are under 18, your parent or legal guardian, agree that the submitted scenario becomes the property of Interligne, that it will not be returned to you, and that you waive all intellectual property rights and copyrights inherent to the scenario submitted to Interline for this contest, whether or not it is a winning scenario.
  • You grant Interligne a royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, and worldwide permission to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, and publish your script in any way and in any media in the form of electronic or printed documents related to the contest.
  • You renounce all the moral rights you have on this scenario to Interligne.
  • In case of selection of the script by the jury, you agree that Interline has the right to modify the title or the content of your script for the purposes of making the video.

    6. Information for the winners

  • Winning groups who wish to benefit from the prize must be available during the spring break from March 2 to 6, 2020, because it is during this week that videos will be filmed. Of course, it is acceptable not to attend or participate in the shooting of this video. The capsules will be shot in Montreal. For the winners, transportation, hotel, activities and food will be taken care of by Interligne. A responsible adult aged 18 and over is required per group to supervise and accompany the groups during video shooting days. We will provide an authorization form that each student under 18 years of age must have signed by a parent or legal guardian and submitted to us in order to benefit from the activities and attend the filming of the videos. The videos will be released in the spring of 2020 on social media as part of an awareness campaign on bullying.

    7. Contact information

    If you need additional information, or if you have any questions about the contest, please contact Dora-Kim Benoit-Gagnon, Youth Programs Coordinator at Interligne, at 514 866-6788 ext. 134 or by email at [email protected]

    • Documents to download to enter the contest



    To participate in the GISA contest against bullying, just look at our list of themes and choose one that inspires you. From there, you and your team are free to write a scenario corresponding to this theme, then send it to us together with your completed application form. It’s that simple!

    Application form

    You can fill out the application form online by clicking this link
    If you prefer to fill in the application form manually and send it by mail, you can get the PDF version here.

    Theme list

    Get the PDF version here.
    Today, bullying, violence and harassment in Canadian and Quebec schools are more and more numerous and worrying, and can take different forms depending on the context and age of youth:

  • L’2010-2011 Quebec High School Youth Health Survey shows that more than one-third of high school students experienced some form of bullying during their schooling: 42% of boys said they were intimidated at school or on the way from school to home. For girls, the number drops to 29%. Young girls are not spared as they are victims of more cyberbullying. They are 7% to have been cyberintimidées at least once, against 4% of boys.
  • For those who are concerned about sexual and gender diversity, the figures related to bullying are doubly worrying. For example, almost two-thirds (64%) of LGBTQ students and 61% of students with LGBTQ parents say they do not feel safe at school. In addition, 70% of all participants, LGBTQ and non-LGBTQ students, report hearing expressions such as “that’s so gay” on a daily basis and almost half (48%), comments such as “fag” and “dyke”. ( Every class in every school, Egale Canada, 2011 )
  • Despite a drop in bullying rates in recent years at the elementary level, this rate remains stable for youth of secondary school age, which means that there is no real improvement in the situation. In addition, according to this survey, the school grounds remain the place where the largest number of students say they feel “at risk”. In high school, for example, lockers would be the most feared place. ( National Survey on Violence in School 2013-2015 )

    • Mobile apps and resource web guides

    Aidez-moi SVP / Need help now
    This site helps teens block the spread of sexually explicit photos and videos and provides them with resources to deal with cyberbullying. This is a program of the Canadian Center for Child Protection.
    [email protected]
    https://needhelpnow.ca

    Cyberbullying on Facebook
    Sections dedicated to cyberbullying on Facebook
    Que dois-je faire si une personne me menace, me harcèle ou me maltraite sur Facebook? (NOTE: French only)
    Comment aider un(e) ami(e)s victime de harcèlement ou d’intimidation sur Facebook? (NOTE: French only)

    Plus fort (+ Fort)
    +Fort is a tool that aims to help young victims of bullying: it offers information on ways to help them. It also allows parents and caregivers to support youth who are bullied.
    Pavillon Lionel Groulx,
    3150, rue Jean-Brillant, bur. C-4099
    C. P. 6128, succ. Centre-ville
    Montréal (Québec) H3C 3J7
    [email protected]
    https://www.plusfort.org/

    Help Centers

    Centre d’aide aux victimes d’actes criminels (CAVAC)
    CAVACs provide front-line services to anyone who is a victim of crime and their loved ones, as well as to witnesses of a crime. CAVAC assistance is available whether or not the person who commits the crime is identified, arrested, prosecuted or convicted.
    Téléphone : 1 866 532-2822
    www.cavac.qc.ca

    Helplines

    Interligne
    24/7 helpline for people of all ages concerned with sexual and gender diversity (LGBTQ + realities)
    C.P. 1006, Succursale C
    Montréal (Québec) H2L 4V2
    Téléphone et texto (ligne d’écoute) : 1 888 505-1010
    Téléphone (administration) : 514 866-6788
    [email protected]
    www.interligne.co

    Jeunesse j’écoute
    24/7 helpline for youth
    Téléphone (Helpline) : 1 800 668-6868
    Téléphone (administration) : 514-273-7007
    [email protected]
    https://jeunessejecoute.ca

    Tel-jeunes
    Helpline specifically for youth
    C.P. 186, succursale Place d’Armes
    Montréal (Québec) H2Y 3G7
    Téléphone (écoute) : 1 800 263-2266
    [email protected]
    www.teljeunes.com

    Resources for adult mentors

    Bien-être @ l’école
    The Bien-être @ l’école website provides teachers and those working in the education community with a directory of relevant resources, as well as three separate professional learning modules.
    www.bienetrealecole.ca/

    Bullying Prevention – Facts and Tools for Schools
    This resource offers a variety of tips and tools to support your efforts to prevent bullying and create a safe and tolerant school. The tip sheets provide you with an overview of the key elements of an anti-bullying prevention plan based on the latest research in this area.
    www.prevnet.ca

    The Red Cross
    Anti-bullying and harassment prevention programs offered by the Canadian Red Cross.
    www.croixrouge.ca

    Emergency suicide service

    Quebec suicide prevention center
    8180, boul. Pierre-Bertrand Nord
    Québec (Québec) G2K 1W1
    Téléphone (Ligne d’écoute) : 418-683-4588
    Téléphone (Ligne d’écoute – Sans frais) : 1 866-277-3553
    http://www.cpsquebec.ca/

    Suicide Action Montréal
    2345, rue Bélanger Est
    Montréal (Québec) H2G 1C9
    Téléphone (Ligne d’écoute) : 514 723-4000
    Téléphone (Ligne d’écoute – Sans frais) : 1 866 277-3553
    http://www.suicideactionmontreal.org/

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