IF CHILDREN could step into the shoes of a victim of bullying, would they be less likely to push others around? That's the hope behind a virtual reality system, on trial in 10 schools in Massachusetts, that seeks to give kids a perspective on how cruel treatment affects their peers.
Called SchoolLife, the system portrays what happens when John, a shy and bookish boy, accidentally jostles a popular girl called Sarah. She then tells people to ignore him and posts cruel messages on Facebook, no matter how much John apologises.
Children who are given John's role find themselves isolated. They hear that they can seek help from a friend, Eliza, who is also part of Sarah's friend group. But Eliza gives John the cold shoulder, and no other classmates will reach out to him, leaving the user feeling hurt by a former ally who seems to have become Sarah's lackey. When users play the role of Eliza, however, they can see that she is acting under peer pressure, not out of malice.
SchoolLife is the creation of GiantOtter, a start-up in Boston co-founded by Geoff Marietta. He says the idea is that experiencing other students' points of view will help foster better relationships between pupils and so reduce bullying.
Right now, pairs of students play out each scenario as John and Eliza, typing in requests or responses to questions. The interactions are collected and stored in a database, to be classified according to the psychological strategies the children use to navigate the situation.
Ultimately, the idea is to have users interact with artificially intelligent characters. If the software deems that a user's input is consistent with resolving the conflict amicably, the virtual characters might respond more favourably. For instance, if someone playing John says he understands that Eliza is under pressure from her peer group, then Eliza might be more open to helping patch things up with Sarah. If not, then things might continue to go badly.
Deborah Eakin, a psychologist at Mississippi State University, is intrigued by the approach. "I do see some value in having a kid virtually experience what the bullied kid experiences," she says. Marietta and his partner Jeff Orkin now want to improve SchoolLife by augmenting the characters' body language and giving them voices.
This article appeared in print under the headline "Virtual role-playing shows kids the harm of bullying"
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