Hopscotch, a leading kids wear brand in Pakistan, with 24 stores in 14 cities and an active online site: www.ilovehopscotch.com, initiated an Anti-Bullying Campaign on Wednesday, 25th April, 2018. The campaign received intense positive response from people from all walks of life, including celebrities, socialites, media influencers, bloggers, medical practitioners and even the general public. People appreciated Hopscotch’s initiative and shared their personal experiences on social media to reflect their support for the cause that has essentially become a pervasive problem amongst children across the globe.

Hopscotch, being a project of passion for the founders – Romana and Harris – aims to design and deliver superior quality products for Pakistani children. Now that the brand is four years old, the company has taken the responsibility to disseminate a public service message by taking an initiative to spread awareness about bullying through its much acknowledged anti-bullying campaign – Back Off Bullies.

The less importance assigned to this rather serious matter and the lack of prior research in the local context in terms of mitigating it, have essentially driven Hopscotch to take up this social cause. Bullying is a severe problem that effects children physically, mentally and even psychologically, causing severe damage to their overall personalities.

When asked to share her thoughts on the social campaign, the CEO of Hopscotch, Romana, stated, “Through this non-profit campaign our brand intends to spread national awareness on bullying, whilst educating students, teachers and parents on how to address the problem. We have devised a strategic toolkit for the Back off Bullies campaign, in collaboration with Lahore Children’s Center (LCC), which discusses all the important information regarding bullying, and suggests suitable action plans from different perspectives as well as for diverse situations for parents, teachers and students alike. The toolkit includes a comprehensive pamphlet, an anti-bullying video and illustrative posters to help stop this type of behavior.” She further added, “After this campaign, Hopscotch is envisioning a series of workshops in schools for teachers and kids. I believe that everyone has a key role to play in preventing bullying and we should collectively work towards providing a friendly school environment for our children, so that each one of them can flourish in their own capacity.”