Child violence has been an extremely serious problem for many decades. Do you know that 75% of 2 to 4 years old children have received corporal punishment frequently by their caregivers, and 50% of adolescents worldwide have encountered peer violence near school area (UNICEF, 2017)? What’s worse, every seven minutes, there is a teenager dies of violence (UNICEF, 2017). Thus, child violence has become a crucial issue that needs everyone to take actions immediately. Fortunately, there are some people and organizations around the world are trying their best to raise awareness of this issue, and call for actions to stop children bullying. Among those people, a Korean boy band called BTS has taken their initiatives to stop this happen. In fact, BTS members have always concerned about social issues and have used their own voices to influence other young people. Therefore, in November 1, 2017, they launched a campaign called Love Myself. (“About Love Myself”, 2017) The Love Myself campaign started by BTS with the UNICEF #ENDviolence program aims to raise the awareness of child violence and raise funds for children, so that they will be able to fulfill their potentials and make their dreams come true.
What is Love Myself campaign?
The Love Myself campaign was established in November 1, 2017 by the Korean boy band BTS with the non-profit organization UNICEF (United Nations Children Emergency Fund). The campaign’s goal is to stop violence of any kind against children and young people, and hope to provide them with love and support in the future.
By starting this campaign, BTS members have spreaded a lot of positive messages and raised funds for children in need. By December 2018, there are around 1, 800, 000, 000 KRW fund raised by BTS members and many of their fans BTS ARMYs worldwide (“Love Myself”, 2018). At the same time, there are more than 10 million of hashtags #BTSLoveMyself spreading on twitter (“Love Myself”, 2018). What’s more, the scale of the Love Myself campaign is still expanding, from Korea to Japan, then to Europe and the United States. Therefore, the importance of solving child violence will continue to spread worldwide, and more children could receive help from the fund raised and from other positive messages or stories.
In terms of the international organization UNICEF, they are doing more jobs that could really work for the children. First of all, UNICEF works hard to change people’s attitude towards violence and discrimination (UNICEF, 2017). Today, there are still many people suppose that physical discipline is a need at home and in other places near children. Thus, shifting this social norm is the key factor in fighting child violence. Therefore, UNICEF is holding various programs at schools and communities, as well as spreading the messages through mass media to change the behavior of caregivers, teachers and so on. Moreover, they are helping governments to develop and implement the legitimate and policy structures (UNICEF, 2017). For instance, UNICEF is trying their best to make sure the policies could be implemented properly and protect children from any harmful actions (UNICEF, 2017). With all these works done by UNICEF, cases of violence against children and young people are hoped to be reduced, and finally providing a bright future for the youth over the world.
Who could receive help from Love Myself campaign?
As part of the UNICEF anti-violence program, the Love Myself campaign will be protecting children from harm for mainly four categories: “domestic abuse during early childhood; violence at school; violent deaths among adolescents; and sexual violence in childhood and adolescence” (UNICEF, 2017). Violence in children’s lives should be the most urgent thing to be solved. As a result, dealing with the issue of children who received or are receiving corporal punishments in a daily basis needs to be put into the priority.
The importance of Love Myself campaign
Today, the world’s population of youth constitutes about 25% of the total population over the world (Smith, 2014). This means that young people are the majority of people who could make a difference. However, in recent years, there are still many children and adolescents suffer from domestic abuse or violence of any form. In some area, domestic corporal punishment is still considered to be necessary or normal. Thus, helping children to escape from violence, and provide them support is of utmost importance. Moreover, children around the world should have the equal opportunity to be educated. Yet, there are still a lot of children who are not able to receive education due to violence or many other reasons. Thus, there is a need to give them the chance to acquire knowledge and skills they need to fulfill their dreams. If young children have received education and be trained for certain skills, they are not only creating a better life for themselves, they will also help people who are in need in their own community. “Young people are 25 percent of our population,, but they are 100 percent of our future” (Fore, 2018). As a consequence, it is significant to have the Love Myself campaign. It is also crucial to continue fund-raising events for children and spread the importance of anti-violence.
As part of the UNICEF #ENDviolence program, BTS initiated the Love Myself campaign to help reducing the seriousness of child violence by raising awareness and raising funds for children around the world so as to give those children opportunities to pursue their dreams. As young people like BTS, we can also try our best to help the children. Participating in the Love Myself campaign, spreading positive messages on social media, donating money to UNICEF or being volunteers are different ways to help children who suffer from bullying. If everyone could move a small step to help others, we will be able to build a more peaceful world. Therefore, starting from now, lend your helping hand to someone when they need.