Respect Zone fights against school harassment through a social media campaign

Each year all over the world, harassment affects 1 in 3 children according to UNICEF. In France, among the 700 000 children in distress, 25% have already thought about suicide.

Today, the danger of harassment lies in its ability to cross the school gate and pursue harassed people to their home on the Internet.

On the occasion of the National Anti-School Harassment Day, the Respect Zone association reveals an innovative awareness campaign at the attention of mid and high schoolers to fight against this daily violence. A campaign developed in the context of the 5th edition of the Hack for Good program organized by Facebook. 

Anton Battesti, Head of Public Policy at Facebook France explains: “Fighting on a daily basis against all forms of harassment is a priority for Facebook! Digital platforms represent a tremendous lever to prevent hate speech and raise awareness of this issue among as many people as possible. We are proud to support and relay the Stop Harassment campaign on Facebook and Instagram. This collaboration with Respect Zone reflects our company’s commitment to battle against these behaviors and the need to bring together the different stakeholders to strengthen initiatives.”

Created by Publicis Conseil, this campaign hijacks the functionalities of the social networks Facebook and Instagram to call on young people to act against school harassment and to raise awareness among them to help victims.

“With this campaign, we are claiming the right for each student to attend school without bullying. Stop Harassment shows the plight of many students. What we are showing, thanks to the creativity of the artists who worked on the project, is that harassment can quickly be experienced as a horror film that is repeated daily. We deploy the energy of our volunteers to provide students, schools and families with the right tools to prevent, know their rights and press Stop before it is too late. Getting the Respect Zone label means, for instance, sending positive and effective messages to all students,” says Philippe Coen, President of Respect Zone.

The creative idea lies in the accelerated diffusion of harassed student’s daily life; a life that can be only fully understood when reread using “Tap & Hold”, a principle specific to the Stories format on Facebook and Instagram that allows you to make an image still. 

Structured around three of the most common forms of harassment – morphophobia, homophobia and reputation damage – the campaign immerses us in the scenes of lives of teenagers, accompanied by messages from students that can be difficult to read, which reflect the tragic reality of bullying.

Cloé Yquel and William Keo, the creative duo who win this edition of the Hack for Good and who initiated the campaign explain: “To win the fight against harassment, we need to start by defining clearly under what form it manifests itself. We were really moved by the testimonies that we gathered to write the three films. That’s why we wanted to stay faithful to the reality of bullying and its violence.”

To allow children to discuss the subject with their families, the campaign will be broadcast on TV to reach households. 

The campaign will be visible on Instagram from 5th November then on TV from 7th November as part of the National Anti-School Harassment Day. This campaign is born in the context of the 5th edition of the Hack for Good, a creative competition organized by Facebook which offered 8 agency teams the opportunity to create a campaign on the social network at the benefice of the Respect Zone association. Cloé Yquel and William Keo, representing Publicis Conseil, are the lucky winners of this edition. 

Source: Publicis Conseil

  “Hack for Good”, Anton Battesti, Creative, Facebook, Philippe Coen, Publicis Conseil, Respect Zone, Social Media, Unicef