Countries around the world are trying to deal with the problem of bullying in school and Korea is no exception. To stop bullying, students may have to speak up when they see it happen.
The topic of school bullying is explored in two current k-dramas. "Angry Mom" and "Who Are You? - School 2015?" In "Angry Mom" Kim Hee Sun is so upset about her daughter's bullying that she disguises herself as a student and attends her daughter's school to give the bullies a taste of what it feels like. In "Who Are You - School 2015?" Kim So Hyun plays dual roles, a girl who was mercilessly bullied and a girl who bullies others. The two roles demonstrate why bullying may happen and what it feels like when it does.
Both dramas offer some graphic and disturbing descriptions of the kind of violence students face and the physical and psychological consequences it can lead to. In dramas from "Boys Over Flowers" to "School 2013" bullying often seems to be the norm in school life. Part of the problem in eradicating bullying is that rather than speak up about it, many students assume it is the norm and choose to ignore it when they see it. Students who are not directly involved may look the other way because they are afraid of becoming targeted themselves.
The reality, says a video recently released by Cheil Worldwide, a marketing company under Samsung Group, is that 50 percent of students will ignore bullying even if they witness it directly.
That's why the company works with the Seoul Metropolitan Government on a project titled "Friend Name Tag." As part of this project students are given wireless nametags with their own name and that of another student. According to the website Campaign Brief Asia, the nametags help students find allies and help prevent bullying. In the first project, 298 middle school students in Seoul received a nametag. The tags have an embedded emergency system so that any student who sees another student being bullied can push a button that notifies a teacher. Only the teacher will know where the call comes from.
The trial run can be considered a success. During the project trial, 106 calls were made that led to counseling sessions that prevented bullying. Seoul's city government is showing a short film to promote the anti-bullying policy. And they are considering expanding the nametag campaign to other schools.
While it might be more fun to have Kim Hee Sun come to your school and beat up the bullies, the nametag campaign is a promising development in preventing bullying before it starts.
