Totally Toxic

We want people to recognise if they’re in a toxic friendship, or if they’re being toxic. Friendships should be about mutual respect and understanding. If it's toxic, it needs change. We want to help people if they are struggling in a toxic friendship and how they should handle situations. We want people to reflect on their actions and teach them how to start becoming a better friend. People often don’t realise if they are the problem and we want that to change. It’s crucial to know when to work on a friendship and when to walk away from one.

Our Social Issue

Toxic Friendships

Why We Chose It

We chose this topic because it was close to many of our group's hearts. A lot of our members who are a part of totally toxic had a past history in toxic friendships, and we all felt a certain way at one time or another, but had no one to talk too. We chose this group because we didn't want younger people to feel the way we once felt. Alone, confused and not able to reach out to others and overall unhappy. This is not normal, this is why we chose this social issue, because nobody else did.

Our Goal

Our goals are to raise awareness around toxic friendships and make people more empathetic towards others that may be in a toxic relationship and even try to help, or even if someone is in a toxic friendship themselves they would feel safe and know what actions to take. We also hope that people can identify healthy and unhealthy friendships. Conversely if someone feels they are being toxic toward another human being, to try and change their ways.

Our Innovative Action

We have had stands at both our school Jingle Mingle and Trade Fair. At the Jingle Mingle, we raised over €500 for St Vincent de Paul. At the Trade fair, we raised awareness about toxic friendships by using fun games and challenges. We have used our Instagram and Tiktok to educate the wider community using friendship affirmations and relatable videos. We made a short film to show aspects of toxic friendships to show to Junior years in the hopes to educate them on toxic friendships.

Our Impact

We believe we have begun to make a positive difference around our school and on our social media platforms. We have raised awareness around the school through the Trade Fair and the Jingle Mingle. Students played games that showed them traits associated with toxic friendships, which was a huge success. The trade fair also allowed us to create a positive difference on our community as they were also attendance. We have also created a positive impact by spreading our message online through our social media platforms. We aim to continue to make a positive differene on all those around us.