Trend Micro Incorporated (TSE), a global leader in cybersecurity solutions, announced winners of the 2017 ‘What's Your Story?’ youth video contest. The annual international competition aims to encourage and empower students and young adults to share their views on how we can make the Internet a better place for all.

Schools and individuals in the U.S. and Canada submitted videos that answered the question, “If you could change one thing about the Internet, what would you change?” for a chance to win the grand prize of $10,000 each – one for a student and another for a school. Additional cash prizes of $1,000 were offered to four runner-up winners, with several other entries receiving Honorable Mention.

Chris Allison, an undergraduate student at Columbia University from New York, NY won the individual category for his video “The Speed of Impulse,” and Yvanna R. and Emily C., students at Sycamore High School of Cincinnati, OH earned grand prize for the school category with their video, “Eye Message.”

Allison’s video entry touched on the pitfalls of the Internet’s incredible speed, emphasizing its impulsiveness that often leads to the spread of cyberbullying and fake news. As Allison’s video submission stated, “Wouldn’t it be great if sometimes we could just sit back and take a deep breath and make sure what we are doing isn’t wrong or hateful?” Nevertheless, the video’s viewpoint remains optimistic, explaining, “All and all, I’d say we’re on the right track. Technological progress isn’t bad, we just need to make sure we’re moving forward…I am excited to see where it goes!”

Sycamore High School’s compelling video submission demonstrated first-hand the harmfulness of the Internet’s anonymity through a series of messages exchanged online. The video submission noted, “We can display so much with so few words. Our expressions often tell stories our mouths or keyboards could never express. In this video, we hope to show that with a simple look into someone’s eyes, we can remember to empathize with real people rather than needlessly hurt them over the Internet.”  

Started in 2010, the annual ‘What's Your Story?’ contest continues to encourage today’s youth to express their feelings, thoughts and observations about the digital world they’re living in, helping to shed light on both the good and the bad associated with the Internet.

“We were excited to view this year’s submissions – they were incredible and allowed us to better understand how students think about and use the Internet,” said Lynette Owens, founder and global director of Trend Micro Internet Safety for Kids & Families program. “Young people are no stranger to the Internet’s less-than-perfect attributes and many videos touched on crucial topics including cyberbullying, fake news and privacy concerns, with many entries presenting captivating solutions around how we can make the Internet a better place for all.”

Grand Prize Winners in the individual and school categories:

• “The Speed of Impulse” by Chris Allison, New York, New York
• “Eye Message” by Yvanna R. and Emily C, Sycamore High School in Cincinnati, Ohio

Individual Winners – each will receive $1,000

• “Internet Safety Rules!” by Alexis Latimore, Sanford, FL 
• “Face to Face” by Ryan P. and Larson M., Huntington Beach, CA

School Winners – each will receive $1,000

• “Reveal All” by Sophia D. and Celeste, Meadowbrook School, Weston, MA
• “#TAKEOFFTHEMASK” by Elizabeth I. and Grace F., Visitation Academy, St. Louis, MO

Trend Micro’s Internet Safety for Kids & Families, which spearheads the contest, was joined by several of the world's leading organizations to select the winners from the 2017 finalists. Finalists were selected based on a combination of views and ratings. The judging panel included representatives from The National Association of Media Literacy Education (NAMLE), Connectsafely, Twitter, Facebook, MediaSmarts, National Cybersecurity Alliance, the Cyberbullying Research Center, iCanHelp, Microsoft, The Net Safety Collaborative 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 cybersecurity solutions, helps to make the world safe for exchanging digital information. Our innovative solutions for consumers, businesses and governments provide layered security for data centers, cloud environments, networks and endpoints. All our products work together to seamlessly share threat intelligence and provide a connected threat defense with centralized visibility and control, enabling better, faster protection. With over 5,000 employees in over 50 countries and the world’s most advanced global threat intelligence, Trend Micro enables organizations to secure their journey to the cloud. For more information, visit www.trendmicro.com.

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