Problem Statement

In recent years, Canada has reported disturbing statistics on hate and division. In 2021, a Global News article mentioned that police-reported hate crimes significantly increased from 1,951 incidents in 2019 to 2,669 in 2020, with those targeting race or ethnicity almost doubling from one year to the next. In addition to this, bullying in schools is a prevalent problem in Canada. Rob Benn-Frenette, the co-executive director and co-founder of BullyingCanada, said in a 2019 op-ed that 47% of Canadian parents reported having a child who was a victim of bullying. At the core of these problems lies the issue of having a lack of kindness for others, which prevents empathy, compassion and respect for differences from developing.

Global Shapers Ottawa Hub partnered with Global Dignity Canada to support their virtual event, "Kids for Kindness," which was held on February 16th, 2022 to mark the first National Kindness Week during the week of February 13-19.

Solution

The event was attended by students (Grades 2-6) from schools across Canada. The students first watched a video called "Kind Worlds | Uniting Identities" by LembasWorks. Facilitators/Kindness Champions including Ottawa Hub Shapers then asked them the following questions in breakout room sessions: (1) How do you define kindness? (2) What does a kind world look like to you? (3) How can you inspire acts of kindness? The questions resulted in a variety of thoughtful responses from the students as they gave them an opportunity to explore what it meant to be kind.

Goal

To give them students (Grades 2-6) from schools across Canada an opportunity to explore what it meant to be kind.

Target

The project aimed to engage a total of 80 students in their breakout room sessions, and exceeded this target through engagement with 84 students.

Impact

Students take what they have learnt from the event and apply it in their own lives.