TOUCH ME NOT

TitleTOUCH ME NOT
BrandPARINAAM FOUNDATION
Product / ServiceNOT-FOR-PROFIT ORGANISATION THAT PROVIDES HOLISTIC SUPPORT FOR CHILDREN.
CategoryB03. Use of Ambient Media: Large Scale
EntrantMcCANN INDIA Mumbai, INDIA
Idea Creation McCANN INDIA Mumbai, INDIA

Credits

Name Company Position
PRASOON JOSHI MCCANN WORLDGROUP Chief Creative Officer
ASHISH CHAKRAVARTY MCCANN WORLDGROUP National Creative Director
PUNEET KAPOOR MCCANN WORLDGROUP Executive Creative Director
DILEEP ASHOKA MCCANN WORLDGROUP Account Director
RATHISH P SUBRAMANIAM MCCANN WORLDGROUP Creative Director
VAISHALI RAO MCCANN WORLDGROUP Copywriter

Why is this work relevant for Direct?

Safe Touch and Unsafe Touch is a standard lesson taught to children across the country to build awareness about sexual abuse. But in most of the cases, children are just passive listeners because of which, the lesson may not effectively get through to them. Touch Me Not is the first natural and interactive educational tool for sexual abuse awareness. It engages the children directly, with compelling visual demonstration and effectively shows what is Safe Touch and Unsafe Touch.

Background

Sexual abuse crimes against children have been on a steady rise in India. Educating children is the best way we can protect them from such crimes. But, while we know what we want to teach, how we do it, is still a question. Because in the innocent minds of children, it is hard to differentiate between acts of love and acts of abuse. Another obstacle we face is, how do we grab the children’s attention and hold it long enough to teach them about this complex topic? Our goal was to kill both birds with one stone. Find a simple and yet effective tool that interests the children during the lesson, while also not leaving a hint of a doubt about what is sexual abuse.

Describe the creative idea (30% of vote)

Touch Me Not is the first natural and interactive educational tool created to teach the children the lesson of Safe Touch and Unsafe Touch. This also is an engaging form of demonstrating types of physical contact that should not be allowed.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

Our primary audience was children between the ages of 5 and 11, whose innocent minds find it hard to grasp the concept of sexual abuse. Children learn most from their peers. With this in mind, we wanted to build awareness in way children relate to, while making it impactful. Our secondary audience were teachers, parents and other stakeholders in safeguarding children’s right to safety and protection. Through unconventional teaching methods, we wanted to spark a buzz among the public that starts conversations about this prolific problem.

Describe the execution (20% of vote)

We created topiaries of a small boy and a small girl, made from a combination of real and plastic touch-me-not plants. Most of the body that represent Safe Touch were created from life-like replicas of the touch-me-not plant. But the body parts that represent Unsafe Touch - the chest, part between the legs and the bottom, were made from real touch-me-not plants, whose leaves closed down immediately when touched. During sexual abuse awareness workshops in government schools across the city, children were first taught about Safe Touch and Unsafe Touch, and then introduced to the topiaries. They interacted with the topiaries by running their hands over them. When they saw the leaves of the 'Unsafe' body parts close down, they were able to translate better that this is Unsafe Touch. Touch Me Not was also sustainable as leaves of the touch-me-not plants opened within a short period of time.

List the results (30% of vote)

When the children saw the leaves immediately closing, it created a greater impact of showing that this form of physical contact should not be allowed. The stark visual action also ensured that they remember this lesson well into the future. Learning this lesson from the topiaries close to their age created a strong bond and trust, because of which they were more receptive to listening. This unconventional method of teaching brought attention to the problem of sexual abuse crimes. It also opened up conversations about integrating these lessons at early stages of child development.