Shockingly, New Zealand has the second worst rate of schoolyard bullying in the developed world. Last year, bullying was at record levels, with 94% of teachers witnessing it happening in schools. The Ministry of Education acknowledged that their past method of telling children to say “Stop it, I don’t like it,” wasn’t working, and they needed a different approach. They also wanted to curb bullying at the earliest stage of a child’s development. So, our task was to create a resource that would captivate 4-7-year-olds and arm them with the tools they’d need to combat bullying in the schoolyard.

New Zealand has the second worst rate of schoolyard bullying in the OECD. The Ministry of Education needed to stop this growing problem. But unlike past (mostly unsuccessful) campaigns that aimed to make victims more resilient, we focused on the bystanders; because attention is like oxygen for bullies - ignore them, and they lose all power. To reach children with this vital message, we created ‘Oat the Goat’. An interactive tale – accompanied by an original, 78-piece orchestral score – that let children help Oat decide what to do when confronted with bullying. Should he join in the teasing? Do nothing? Or simply ask the victim if they’re okay? By giving children the freedom to make the wrong decisions in Oat’s world, they could learn to make the right decisions in the real one.

With a plethora of brilliant bed-time stories already in the market (and no PR budget on our side), we needed to be highly tactical at reaching 4-7-year-olds with our anti-bullying tale. So, we launched ‘Oat the Goat’ in primary schools across New Zealand during Bullying Free Week, 2018. Teachers became a crucial channel for us, sharing Oat’s story with children at mat-time - then encouraging them to continue or repeat the online tale with parents at bed-time.

To frame Oat the Goat as a ‘must-read’ to parents, we also launched a 30 second teaser film on Facebook and YouTube, directly targeting Kiwi parents of 4-7-year-olds. This film framed it as a tale that would ‘Help kids learn the power of kindness’ and called on families to visit oatthegoat.co.nz at bedtime.

In 2018, bullying in NZ was at record levels, with 94% of teachers witnessing it happening in their schools. The Ministry of Education acknowledged that telling children to say “Stop it, I don’t like it,” wasn’t working, and they needed a different approach. They also wanted to stop bullying at the earliest stage of a child’s development.

So, during Bullying Free Week, May 2018, we launched ‘Oat the Goat’; an interactive bedtime story that called on 4 to 7 year-olds to help character Oat navigate right and wrong as he encountered bullying on his adventure to the top of a mountain. A journey only made possible by ignoring bullies and being kind to others…

The soundscape played a crucial role in keeping children engaged and guiding them to do the right thing. So, we worked with composer Tane Upjohn-Beatson and the NZ Symphony Orchestra to create an original, 78-piece orchestral score - for all 11 minutes of our tale. Individual musical passages were also written to reflect the emotional consequence of children’s decisions. These were then coded to transition seamlessly at each crossroad, no matter what path the children took or when they took it.

And, to make it an unmistakably Kiwi tale, we created a sound bed and music score bursting with native birdsong and Taonga Puoro; sacred Maori instruments indigenous to New Zealand.

To ensure we reached every child, regardless of socio-economic status, we developed the tale using WebGL, so both music and graphics could play across a broad spectrum of devices and connections without affecting the quality of the experience. So far, over 85% of all 4 to 7-year-olds in New Zealand have visited oatthegoat.co.nz, spending an average of 9 minutes immersed in the story. And it’s now an official part of the New Zealand school curriculum.

Just days after launching, Oat the Goat made front page news, 100% unprompted, and garnered the attention of families, teachers and the New Zealand media, with headlines such as “An absolute hit” and “Every child needs to read this”.

Moreover:

- In the first 3 weeks, OatTheGoat.co.nz received 105,000+ unique visits (far surpassing the 30,000 target)

- Children spent an impressive average of 9 minutes engaged in the story.

- To date, 85% of all 4 to 7-year-olds in New Zealand have read the online tale.

- And, it’s now an official part of the New Zealand school curriculum.

Most importantly, we helped children around the country realise the power they have as bystanders – and equipped them with the language they need to help stop bullying. The true effect of Oat the Goat is yet to be seen, but it’s a massive step towards curbing New Zealand’s bullying problem.