Christchurch mosque shooting: 'We have to make a stand, we are one', teens urge country

A group of school students are telling the nation to come together to take a stand against extremism and hate following the Christchurch terror attack.

In a video shot by Sione's Wedding director Chris Graham, for World Vision New Zealand, the teenagers reflect on the massacre, which saw a gunman kill 50 people at two mosques in the city and injure more than 40 others.

The video includes a young woman who inadvertently saw the shooter's video live on Facebook, as well as a young Muslim woman who speaks about how people's reaction to her has changed in the past week.

"Since Friday, I have seen a huge shift in the way people look at me, Neheeda, a Year 13 student says.

"There's much more respect, much more love. Now we're more like brothers and sisters, we've been closer than we've ever been."

The film was shot at World Vision New Zealand's Youth Leadership Conference this week.

More than 650 Years 9 to 13 pupils from schools across the upper North Island came together to discuss how they can make positive change in their schools and wider communities in the wake of the terror attacks.

"Seeing the shooting, it makes me think – have I been racist?," said Emma, a Year 13 pupil. "Have I been saying small jokes that have given people the idea that this is okay, that it's okay to hurt people because they are different?"

The over-arching message from the video was that New Zealanders needed to stand together to show the world it wouldn't tolerate hate and racist violence.

"Together we need to stand and actually make a difference and actually change our ways," says Lulu, Year 12.

Lexus, a Year 10 student, said: "We have to make a stand for this. We need to be different from other countries, so that we can change for the future, so that this does not happen ever again."

It ends with a message to the country's Muslim community: "We've got your back. We're with you. We love you. We stand with you. We are one."

World Vision New Zealand national director Grant Bayldon said all Kiwis needed to take up the challenge to stamp out hate.

"As this film shows, the hundreds of college-aged leaders we worked with on Tuesday are committed to reaching out to each other across the traditional boundaries of our own communities and our own countries to forge a better future in here New Zealand and around the world."

He added: "Across the world, I have seen first-hand the strength that comes from working across ethnic and religious divides."