The first school desks that get students talking about bullying.

School desks have always inspired students, letting them write or draw moods, fragments of stories. We realized they were the perfect channel via which we could communicate with them and encourage them to open up. We worked with 10 famous artists to create bespoke illustrations and stories we then engraved on school desks. The engraved desks were then placed in different classrooms across Switzerland. To get students to notice and engage with the illustrations, we chose a visual vocabulary that speaks to them and created stories that come to life through augmented reality. These stories are based on real testimonies and portray different aspects of bullying. A website (ose-en-parler.ch meaning dare-to-speak.ch) and a Bullying Preventive Group were also created to continue the dialogue. Now, they can - finally - dare to speak about it!

For the first time, school desks are used as a medium. With the help of 10 famous artists we started to engrave wooden school desks with 20 different illustrations. Thanks to a milling machine and a high precision technique using laser cutting technology, we obtained a very accurate (and beautiful) result so the augmented reality experience could perfectly work. We then rebuild the desks and replaced them directly in the classrooms where they originally were for students to discover and interact with them, generating 1 big conversation. It all started in 1 public high school. A number that rapidly increased to 32 and keeps growing…

This campaign has already been adopted by many schools, reaching all the people involved directly by the issue: thousands of students and teachers. And these numbers are still growing due to the success of the experience. More than the increase of the site traffic (+60%), the most important result was definitively the launch of 1 big conversation: teachers and students reacted positively and launched the dialogue. The illustrations generated positive word-of-mouth from the students, amplifying the phenomenon. Therefore - and right after its launch in April - the Public Educational Department committed to implementing Engraved Memories across more schools within 18 months. 1 big conversation that is not about to stop…

Today’s numbers:

1 big conversation

32 schools involved

1287 teachers made aware

3852 parents informed

22'450 students reached