Sticks and Stones
Sticks and stones might break my bones, but words will never hurt me. This age-old adage seems reasonable, but is it true? In support of Anti-Bullying Day in the United States (May 4th), IKEA released a video that showed the effects bullying had on plants. The world’s largest furniture retailer ran an experiment in which they placed two identical plants in a school for 30 days and gave them the exact same care (water, food, sunlight), with the only difference being the words they heard. The results showed the plant listening to words of positivity flourishing while the plant listening to words of negativity descended into atrophy.
The effects of a plant’s responsiveness to environmental controls such as projected sound (music, voices, etc) and energy (positive/negative) have been tested countless times throughout scientific and behavioral studies. More often than not, there has been conclusive evidence that positivity promotes healthy growth while negativity promotes weakness. Plants are living and breathing lifeforms, but are they capable of expressing emotion? It appears so.
If plants respond to these types of cues with such vigor, imagine the impact they have on humans— especially the ones who are subject to constant ridicule and negativity from bullies. Just as the wilted plant experienced, long-term effects of negativity can be damaging to the healthy development of people— and it can be even worse for children. According to British Columbia’s Ministry of Education, nearly 88% of bullying incidents occur in the presence of children. Whether a child is the direct victim of bullying or they witness it, this type of behavior can have a negative impact on their life by making them more susceptible to becoming a bully, a criminal, or engaging in abusive relationships in the future.
As ambassadors of peace and justice, the constituents of our company want to remind you— even if it’s for the first time— that we all have the power to effect change in a positive way. This is especially important when it comes to our youth. We were all children once (some of us still are) and we have all had experiences with adults or figures of authority who have— for better or for worse— played a part in shaping us into the people we are today. So, when it comes to interacting with children, we challenge you to be the person you needed as a kid to help you be your best self.
Whether you were fortunate enough to have had that person in your life as a child or not is not the point (though it’s obviously easier to do if you have a concrete example), nor is your like or dislike of children. The point is to lead by example to help reduce the amount of exposure children have to bullying and violence towards others, which in turn will hopefully eradicate the creation of future bullies. Bullying is a learned activity, and whether it comes from a child or an adult, it’s definitely something we can all stand to experience less of in our lives. Let’s drown out bullying and cultivate a garden of positivity to help those around us grow strong and healthy.
