Educators worldwide are among the participants of a “Kindness is Cool” competition launched on the family-friendly social platform Gan Jing World as a means to inspire compassion and kindness among students.
“Kind acts have the power to send forth ripple effects in our world and change lives,” the platform said in a statement.
Gan Jing World “invites people and organizations to join a movement for good. Submissions are open now through December 31, 2023 with a winners announcement scheduled for February 1, 2024,” the statement said.
“Anyone can share videos of kind acts using the hashtag #KindnessIsCool on Gan Jing World and take part in this great wave of worldwide positivity, while also earning a chance at $25,000 in cash prizes.”
Indonesia Students Welcome ‘Kindness’
At the end of a video presented by middle school students of SMPN 12 Batam, Indonesia, gathered along with their principal, and together they yelled:“Kindness is cool, Kebaikan itu keren, Thank you, Gan Jing World, Selamat datang dunia bersih (Welcome Gan Jing World), We, the students of SMPN 12 Batam, very welcome Gan Jing World. Yes, Yes, Yes.”
Most Challenging Step
Yali Zheng, a mentor teacher at the Development and Information Institute of HCC EDU (Hsinchu County Education) in Taiwan, expressed her gratitude for the contest.“In the past, no one could propose a solution to the adverse effects of the internet on children. Now, Gan Jing World has taken the most challenging step,” she said.
With a platform “created for children, teachers, parents, and everyone,” Ms. Zheng said. “I can encourage children and parents to come here regularly, which can strengthen class cohesion.”
Testimonial from France
Laurence Jossomme-Lefebvre, a Pre-K and kindergarten teacher from Méry sur Oise, France, expressed her gratitude in a letter about the competition.“I immediately found this idea of a kindness contest very positive! It really broke the current gloom. It’s a great gift for teachers and educators. It empowers students and children to confront this anxiety-inducing society,” Ms. Jossomme-Lefebvre wrote.
“In France, moreover, we focus a lot on bullying. I think we’re unfortunately perpetuating a kind of ‘vicious circle’ because we’re constantly bringing up negative situations rather than finding constructive solutions beforehand,” she said.
“We need to build something positive and try to create a ‘virtuous’ circle, all together, creating links, cooperating with teachers in our school groups, families and all school partners, because we are all responsible for the education of children, each at our own level,” she said.
“With this idea of the Gan Jing World Kindness Contest, I saw it as a new energy, a luminous energy to once again illuminate the life path of our students, future citizens, within our schools.”
A Little Boy’s Change
Adel Mansilla, a mother of two young children and a school teacher in Boston, was amazed by how having “kindness as the center of education” has helped change children both at school and at home.“At home, as soon as my family started to participate in the Kindness Is Cool project, I’ve noticed that my son started helping me and his little sister with no hesitation. He got used to the fact that each little act of kindness is a reason to celebrate and share it with the world,” Ms. Mansilla wrote.
“Nowadays, the society focuses so much on content, on facts, on performance, but we often forget that what’s more important for our children, and hence for our future as humanity, is whether we will teach them the core values. As I learned, children respond so naturally to any activity that deals with kindness.”
Digital Content Platform on a Mission
Gan Jing World is a digital content platform with the mission of creating a genuinely positive, vibrant digital community filled with wholesome content free from violent, erotic, criminal, and harmful content, the website. The platform supports videos, articles, message boards, and live chats.Gan Jing in Chinese means “clean,” and GanJingWorld.com was created by former Silicon Valley executives and Chinese dissidents who wanted better protections for free speech and privacy online.
