- ▶Samsung and the Blue Tree Foundation jointly held an online forum on the theme of 'Evolving Cyber Violence and Extinction'
- - Participants shared the evolving reality of cyber violence and presented solutions at the forum on December 2
- ▶Blue Elephant was recognized as an official project certified by UNESCO's Education for Sustainable Development
- - 94,000 people participated in 2020; cumulative participants of 570,000 as of the third quarter of 2022
- - Brought public attention to youth cyberbullying and helped the government to set a related policy task
- ▶Aims to educate 3 million people over the next 10 years and reduce the rate of experiencing cyberbullying to 3%
- ▶Samsung’s 'Together for Tomorrow! Enabling People'
Samsung Electro-Mechanics held the 3rd Youth Cyber Violence Prevention Blue Elephant Online Forum on December 2.
The forum is part of the Blue Elephant project designed to prevent youth cyberbullying, jointly run by the Blue Tree Foundation, the Ministry of Education, the Community Chest of Korea, and Samsung.
Following last year, the third edition of this forum was livestreamed on YouTube under the theme of "Evolving Cyber Violence and Extinction" to share the reality of youth cyberbullying, which is evolving in various forms, and to suggest solutions.
In Part 1 of this forum, victims of cyberbullying, teachers, and police officers discussed the reality and seriousness of cyber violence at home and abroad on the topic of "Evolving Cyber Violence."
The participants talked about the results of a survey including the record high rate of experiencing cyberbullying, which went up by 6 times compared to 2019 to 31.6% in 2021, and victim cases on various digital platforms including a case in which a student was forced to pay on a shared transportation app.
In Part 2, titled "Evolution and Extinction of Cyber Violence," experts including NGO activists, entrepreneurs, and professors discussed countermeasures to solve the problem.
The experts stressed that in order to eradicate cyberbullying, we need stipulated laws and act fast, and presented examples of regulatory provisions, such as defining youth cyber violence, improving victim protection, enhancing prevention education, and strengthening central and local government responsibilities.
In addition to lawmakers, the Minister of Education, and the UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education, Blue Elephant ambassadors such as idol group AB6IX, singer Brian, actor Choi Jungwon, and martial artist Jung Chansung sent video messages in support of Blue Elephant.
“As cyber violence is becoming more diverse with the highest number of victims, it needs active participation and attention of adults," said Yoo Kihong, chairman of the Education Committee at the National Assembly. "The Education Committee is committed to ensuring that young people grow up in a safe environment."
“Cyber violence is no longer just a problem for children," said Lee Juho, Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister. "We will strengthen the safety net in cyberspace by establishing a horizontal cooperation partnership between the public and private sectors including government agencies, offices of education in cities and provinces, and related organizations."
“Blue Elephant is helping youth find solutions to cyberbullying on their own," said Stefania Giannini, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education. "I hope that this forum will help create an environment where young people around the world can grow up happily."
Blue Elephant, a youth cyber violence prevention project launched in February 2020 by the Blue Tree Foundation and Samsung, was named after "elephants" that protect each other in groups and the color "blue" that symbolizes peace and stability. The name has the meaning of preventing and eradicating violence in the cyber jungle.
The project is supported by five Samsung subsidiaries: Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Samsung Electronics, Samsung Display, Samsung SDI, and Samsung SDS.
Blue Elephant is largely divided into five programs: online and group preventive education for elementary, middle and high school students, psychological counseling for the emotional stability and recovery of victims, campaigns to eradicate cyber violence, academic research for cyberbullying cause analysis and response policies, and building a platform.
Starting with the pilot launched in the second half of 2020, Blue Elephant visited four schools in Seoul and Gyeonggi-do and provided education for 450 students in 20 classes, garnering a total participation of about 94,000 people.
Since last year, the project has been expanded nationwide through online and a mobile application with about 260,000 people participating. As of the third quarter of this year, the cumulative number of participants reached 570,000.
The Blue Elephant project was selected as an official project certified by UNESCO's Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in recognition of contributing to policy improvement, learning environment improvement, educator competency development, empowerment and participation of young people, and community practices. ESD helps all learners acquire knowledge, skills and attitudes to address global challenges such as human rights, the environment, poverty, and inequality.
Another achievement of Blue Elephant is to publicize cyber violence as a social issue, which led the government to include related prevention education in its policy tasks. The Ministry of Education has included Blue Elephant's cyberbullying prevention education in the basic plan for school violence prevention and countermeasures, and related education is provided through the offices of education across the country.
Samsung Electro-Mechanics has actively engaged in activities to raise awareness and prevent cyberbullying, such as organizing the "Support Club," a youth cyberbullying prevention club, participating in anti-violence campaigns and petitions, and promoting Blue Elephant.
※ 46 employees and family members from five Samsung electronics subsidiaries (Electro-Mechanics, Electronics, SDC, SDI, and SDS) participated in school education as assistant instructors and mentors from July to December 2022.
Samsung Electro-Mechanics is also participating in youth cyberbullying prevention activities by recruiting volunteers among employees and their family members. They have interacted with students by visiting schools as preventive education assistant instructors and mentors.
"I hope that this forum will allow us to examine the evolving reality of cyber violence among youth and come up with practical solutions," said Chang Duckhyun, CEO of Samsung Electro-Mechanics, in his welcoming remarks at the forum. "Samsung Electro-Mechanics is committed to help teenagers grow up bright and healthy without suffering from dangerous cyberbullying."
Samsung and the Blue Tree Foundation plan to provide cyber violence prevention education to 3 million people by 2030 through Blue Elephant. They aim to lower the rate of experiencing cyberbullying among youth, which is currently the most common type of school violence, from the current 30% to 3%, and to improve the teens' social skills (honesty, promise, forgiveness, responsibility, caring, and ownership).
Meanwhile, Samsung is carrying out social contribution activities for youth education and shared growth under the vision of "Together for Tomorrow! Enabling People."
Samsung's youth education programs designed to help young people realize their full potential include Samsung Software Academy for Youth, the Samsung Stepping Stone of Hope Program, Samsung Dream Class, Samsung Junior Software Academy, and Samsung Smart School.
Samsung also runs shared growth programs, such as support for transitioning to smart factories, C-Lab (Inside/Outside), raising Win-Win Fund/Payment Support Fund, providing incentives to suppliers, the Samsung Future Technology Development Project, and Sharing Kiosk.