Melbourne Youth Challenge 2010

Some 120 students, teachers and guests attended the NOTHING BEATS THE REAL THING! Youth Challenge held at Karstens Conference Centre in Melbourne city on Tuesday 31 August 2010. Fifteen schools were represented at this exciting event.

The students worked through a program that challenged and entertained them - asking them to come to an understanding about the implications of film piracy for the sort of society they want to create. While most students (and teachers!) had at some time been 'pirates' themselves, they realised that there were considerable implications to their actions, and all agreed that it was a fair and proper civics and citizenship strategy to 'just say NO.'

A surprise guest industry presenter was Nadia Tass, one of Australia's most respected and unique filmmakers. She has directed many well-known films including 'Malcolm', 'Ricky and Pete', 'The Big Steal', 'Amy' and most recently 'Matching Jack'. The students were fascinated by Nadia's observations and inspired by her achievements.

A key part of the day is the role-play session where students have to create and perform a scenario that demonstrates the implications of screen piracy and sets up strategies to address this moral dilemma. The role-plays were outstanding.

Judging from the evaluations, all who attended had a terrific time rating the program 92% Excellent/Very Good.