In South Korea, Samsung and Blue Tree Foundation, the Ministry of Education, and Fruits of Love have come together to form the “Blue Elephant” project, aimed at preventing cyberbullying among teenagers. The project focuses on five main activities: prevention education, psychological counseling and healing, prevention culture promotions, academic research, and platform development.

As part of their efforts, Blue Elephant has been consistently visiting schools to provide classes about online violence. Let’s see how the Blue Elephant project went at Yeon Cheon Elementary School!

Learning how to analyze and resolve

The Blue Elephant program consists of educational sessions both online and offline. The classes cover not only theories but also field exercises in small groups where students are guided to analyze different situations, openly discuss the topic, and share their feelings. They would learn what cyberbullying is, and what its impact on society including the victims.

The program is designed to help guide students to expand the 6 positive social values – honesty, promise, forgiveness, responsibility, consideration, and possession. During the field exercises, Yeon Cheon Elementary students conveyed their values and connection to the community by sending messages to the victims of cyberbullying. They handcrafted cards with comforting messages to those who were bullied and also held a discussion on ways to handle cyberbullying as a victim, witness, or even the inflictor.

Building a safe cyber environment

Among many activities during the field education, the students especially enjoyed writing a statement in support of non-violence. One of the Yeon Cheon students proudly presented his achievement in class. “We played games and searched for clues, which was fun. Before receiving the prevention education, I was not sure how to deal with cyberbullying, and now I am aware!”

Moving forward, students will participate in online post-learning to revise and put what they learned into action through mission achievement activities. Kim Han-byeol, human rights manager at Yeon Cheon said, “Prevention education is key to preventing and resolving cyberbullying. I hope that more schools can be offered education courses like the Blue Elephant.”