IKEA Campaign Against Bullying Asks Students To Bully A Plant For 30 Days And Learn From The Results

Today, society increasingly pays attention to bullying, that is, baiting. However, “good old bullying” has also taken a modern form in cyberbullying: baiting on the Internet. Both forms are very dangerous - they literally destroy the psyche of the victim. To prove this, IKEA decided to conduct an experiment.Show more

In support of the International Day Against Harassment, the Swedish giant IKEA conducted an experiment in a school in the United Arab Emirates. In this educational institution chosen by random, two plants were given to schoolchildren: one of them to praise, and the other to scold and criticize. Both plants received an equal amount of sunlight, water and fertilizer. After 30 days, the results spoke for themselves.
The plant, which was subjected to positive words of love, wellbeing and friendship, still looked healthy and thriving, while the other plant, the one subjected to receiving only negative comments, had faded. Now, this seems incredible... Can plants hear us? Do plants have emotions? Did we intimidate the plant?

The entire point behind the campaign was to show kids that even though people don’t have leaves and stuff that show the effects of bullying, in the same way, a plant does, their feelings and emotions could become just as tired and depressed. But Ikea was only one in the line in testing this hypothesis and arriving at the same results.

So while we admittedly can’t say the IKEA experiment gives us definitive proof about bullying in relation to plants, it does serve as a solid reminder to always choose kindness whenever possible. Because we do know it makes a big difference to our fellow humans.