Grenoble (FR), October 2007 - Researchers from Germany, Portugal, and the UK have developed an interactive role-play game that helps children to cope with bullying at schools. Currently over 1,000 children throughout Europe are part of pilot studies that aim to explore the impact the software may have in the possible reduction of bullying among pupils.
The scientists who have contributed to the development of application and the following studies are members of Kaleidoscope, a pan-European research network on technology-enhanced learning.
In the specially developed computer game FearNot!, each child takes the role of an invisible friend of the victimised character, discussing problems and exploring possible solutions and coping strategies. The advice given subsequently influences the actions of the victim.
With FearNot! the researchers are using a new and innovative approach to get children to reflect on the sensitive topic of bullying. "This 3-D interactive virtual environment provides a safe haven for individual children where they witness bullying scenarios without being directly involved", says Rui Figueiredo, a scientist at the Institudo de Engenharia de Sistemas e Computadores in Portugal and one of the Kaleidoscope researchers involved in the project. "We use emergent narrative techniques, which enable the learner to direct the path the story should follow."
Bullying is often an underestimated problem in the everyday life of schoolchildren. Studies show that this behaviour can be found in nearly every school and that the incidence is considered to be quite high. Bullying can take many different forms, including name-calling, spreading rumours and lies, as well as threatening, blackmailing, and beating up other children.
The Kaleidoscope research group involved on this project will present more of its work at the upcoming Kaleidoscope 2007 Symposium, which will take place from November 26 to 27 in Berlin 2007.
