Everyone knows that bullying can have an awful effect on a person. But did you know that bullying doesn’t just hurt human beings or animals? In honor of Anti-Bullying Day, which was on May 4th, IKEA decided to conduct an experiment in the Middle East. This involved using children and two IKEA plants to determine if bullying a plant could have an impact on its growth rate. While one plant got treated like dirt, the other was showered with compliments. The experiment took 30 days, and the reaction that the two plants had were so mind-blowing, you simply won’t believe what happened in the end.IKEA used two plants to study the effects of bullying on a living thing. The plant on the left received nothing but negativity, and the plant on the right received lots of compliments. The question remained, would this make a difference?
The complimented plant was treated like a star and received lots of positive feedback over a 30-day period. It seemed to have an effect on the plant as it remained vibrant and full of life, unlike its counterpart.
It turns out that plants can sense things, just like we do, and have the capacity to react based on how they are treated. In this instance, we see a bullied plant looking like it’s having a bad day. But can you blame it? It has endured emotional torture day after day.
It received a lot of hateful comments that would make most people curl into a ball and cry their eyes out. While the plant couldn’t run away, it became evident that it didn’t enjoy being treated badly. Eventually, it started to wither.
Plants do have a level of awareness, especially when it comes to the sound of our voice. It’s why plants react in a positive way to certain types of music and negatively towards others. IKEA’s experiment suggests that positive and negative words affect the energy field around plants.
Don’t focus too much on the actual experiment, but rather the message it’s trying to provide. The whole point was to get kids to understand that words really do hurt and can cause some serious, possibly long-term harm to your peers.
The leaves of the plant looked dull and droopy. The color had also started to go from green to brown. Your heart will definitely sympathize with this plant. You might even want to consider giving it a hug.
Above the two plants was a mural that pointed out that bullying is wrong. It was IKEA’s hope that their message got through to the minds of these young students in order to allow them to become more understanding human beings.
People who are emotionally abused by bullies develop low self-esteem, depression and anxiety. A bully may not use their fists, but their words are violent and can still pack a real punch as this experiment ultimately proved.
They both received the same amount of sunlight on a daily basis. They also received the same amount of water and equal amounts of fertilizer. But it became obvious that love was the one factor that was missing in the bullied plant, which ultimately stunted its growth.
**Do negative remarks have an effect on plants? This IKEA experiment aimed to prove that plants are just as vulnerable to bullying as human beings are. So check out this eye-opening social experiment.**