DALLAS & MENLO PARK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Trend Micro Incorporated (TSE) today announced winners of the 2015 ‘What's Your Story?’ international video contest, which asks today’s youth to submit videos highlighting creative, impactful, safe and responsible ways to use the web. Trend Micro’s Internet Safety for Kids and Families program has awarded one individual and one school each with a grand prize of $10,000. Teen Matthew Post of Olney, MD won the individual category for his video “My Headset” and Dan Cuoco and his fifth grade class at Antelope Ridge Elementary School in Aurora, CO won the school category for their film “Internet Heroes.”
This year’s winning videos leverage creative and inspiring resources to help educate others on great uses of the Internet, and had different messages to share.
Inspired by “The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song” by The Flaming Lips, Dan Cuoco and his class wrote and performed a song discussing what people can or cannot do with the power they have. “That gave us the idea to become ‘super heroes’ and discuss how we can use the power of the Internet. My students discussed mistakes they have made and things they have learned with their Internet experiences,” Cuoco said when he was notified that his class had won. “I appreciate Trend Micro's involvement with internet safety. I think students can learn a lot from the content of these projects and have a lot of fun and ownership of their work along the way.”
When individual winner, Matthew Post – a self-described hobbyist filmmaker - was notified of his grand prize he shared, “The Internet often gets a bad rap due to how easy it is to be anonymous. Sometimes this small but loud minority can drown out the voices of those who use the Internet for educational, social, and otherwise enriching purposes.”
Since 2010, individuals – teens and adults – and schools across the globe have participated in the online video contest which has asked contestants to address a wide range of topics, including: Being a Good Online Citizen, Using a Mobile Phone Wisely, Maintaining Your Online Privacy and more. ‘What's Your Story?’ was created to empower young people to have a voice in guiding the conversation about what safe, responsible, and savvy Internet use is or should be. The contest has a stand-out quality that keeps it apart from others – participants must not only effectively address the topic of each contest, but they must also become advocates of their own stories by sharing it with as many people as possible through social media and other means.
This year, the question posed to contestants was, “Share something you’ve learned that will help someone getting online for the first time.” Nearly 60 videos from schools and individuals were submitted from across the United States and Canada that answered questions like, “Have you ever made a big mistake or bad decision online, but you learned a good lesson?,” “Has someone helped you get out of a mess online?” amongst others. Advice from many that participated in the contest noted, “Don’t overshare,” “always be kind,” “keep your private information, private” and much more. To view the all winners and finalists of the 2015 ‘What's Your Story?’ contest, visit: https://whatsyourstory.trendmicro.com.
Grand Prize winners in the individual and school categories:
- “My Headset” by Matthew Post of Olney, MD
- “Internet Heroes” by Dan Cuoco and his fifth grade class at Antelope Ridge Elementary School in Aurora, CO
Individual Winners – each will receive $1,000
- “Meet the Internet” by Austen Halpern-Graser of Galway, NY
- “Ice-Man” by Jeremy Marshall of Saylorsburg, PA
School Winners– each will receive $1,000
- “Expert Advice for Going Online” by Meadowbrook Elementary School in Weston, MA
- “9:21 News Special Report” by Central Christian School in Hutchinson, KS
“We’re extremely pleased to announce this year’s winners,” said Lynette Owens, director and founder of Trend Micro Internet Safety for Kids and Families. “This is the fifth time we’ve held this contest, but it’s always difficult choosing among so many great submissions. Every year we learn something new about how schools, students and communities are using the Internet and the discussions they’re having around being safe and responsible online. It is so exciting and interesting to see the constant shift in online behavior and how people of all ages can work together to make the Internet a better place for themselves and for others.”
‘What’s Your Story?’ video submissions and winners have been shared by educators, school administrators and Internet safety activists/advisors around the world. This year, to keep the conversation going, we encourage everyone to use the hashtag #MyOnlineAdvice on social media with any advice they’d like to tell their younger selves and those who are going online for the first time.
Trend Micro Internet Safety for Kids & Families joined some of the world's leading organizations to judge all 2015 submissions. Finalists were selected based on a combination of views and ratings; the panel included representatives from: Connectsafely, Cyberseniors, Facebook, MediaSmarts, The National Association of Media Literacy Education, The LAMP, Twitter, Yahoo! and Trend Micro.
About Trend Micro Internet Safety for Kids & Families
Founded in 2008, the mission of Trend Micro's Internet Safety for Kids & Families is to enable and empower kids, parents, teachers, and schools around the world to make the Internet a safe and secure place for today's youth. ISKF does this through a worldwide employee volunteer program, grants and donations to eligible organizations, strategic partnerships with organizations working to protect youth, educational programs, and a robust series of online tips and solutions for parents, educators, and youth. For ISKF's free Internet safety tips, tools and advice, visit: http://internetsafety.trendmicro.com/.
About Trend Micro
Trend Micro Incorporated, a global leader in security software, strives to make the world safe for exchanging digital information. Built on 26 years of experience, our solutions for consumers, businesses and governments provide layered data security to protect information on mobile devices, endpoints, gateways, servers and the cloud. Trend Micro enables the smart protection of information, with innovative security technology that is simple to deploy and manage, and fits an evolving ecosystem. All of our solutions are powered by cloud-based global threat intelligence, the Trend Micro™ Smart Protection Network™ infrastructure, and are supported by more than 1,200 threat experts around the globe. For more information, visit TrendMicro.com.
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