With the rising number of suicides caused by cyber-bullying, a South Korean movement is leading the way in efforts to restore civility to human interactions on the internet.
It began as a simple class assignment to 500 students in Professor Min Byoung-chul’s global leadership course at Seoul’s Kunkuk University. The response has culminated into a “Sunfull movement” to counter the culture of hatred on the internet and promote the value of mutual help and respect.
Min said he began the campaign in 2007 after the shocking suicides last year of two female stars, Jeong Da-bin and Yuni, who both hanged themselves after being diagnosed with severe depression. Before their deaths, their homepages had been deluged with disparaging allegations and scorn over their private lives and choices, such as undergoing plastic surgery.
A similar case emerged this week in the Boston school system, which has now set up a cyber-bullying tip line, after the suicide of a student.
The rock band Pearl Jam has donated $210,000 to the Seattle-based Cascade Land Conservancy for the planting of native trees and shrubs to offset the carbon footprint left behind by their 2009 US tour.
