Guardian Inc. has joined April Dream, which aims to make April 1 a day to share our dreams.
The dream of Guardian Inc. On April 1, 2023, we officially released “kimino micata,” an SOS communication support system for children.
Do you know that the number of suicides among children in elementary, junior high, and high school is increasing due to the COVID-19 pandemic?
Do you know that Japan has a remarkably high teenage suicide rate among all developed countries? 75% of 10-60 year olds who experienced abuse as children by a parent or others did not consult their school teachers (ACHA Project, 2022). Young children do not understand that being abused is wrong. Is the environment surrounding children a “safe” place to live?
Society has yet to come to a better understanding of LGBTQ and other issues. How can we create a society where all of us, including children, can live safely while respecting our identities?
What is Guardian?
Guardian, Inc. was established to address the issue of protecting children from bullying and abuse by putting children first. Based in Kyoto, Japan, Guardian Inc. developed kimino micata with the goal of creating a society in which children can live in peace. This system is an SOS communication support system that makes it easier for children to communicate bullying, abuse, and mental health issues through an online questionnaire. In parallel with kimino micata, we will hold diversity and inclusiveness workshops to eliminate factors that contribute to bullying, and create an environment where people can live their lives even if they are different from others.
What is Kimino micata?
Kimino micata is a tool that detects children’s SOS messages through an online questionnaire about their daily lives, and delivers the results to school nurses and other teachers. The system can be used to reduce the workload of teachers (compared to paper questionnaires) by instantly tabulating the data. The system comprehensively covers not only bullying, but also neglect, sexual abuse, mental health, and other issues.
- Signs of bullying can be detected at an early stage, before the situation becomes more serious.
- Questionnaires can be completed at any time from a tablet or smartphone.
- Children can send an SOS message directly to the school nurse at any time.
- Questions are asked in easy-to-understand language according to the level of understanding of lower/middle-upper elementary school, junior high school and high school students.
- Questions can be switched between English and Japanese to make it easier to understand for children from other countries.
- The questions can be answered in a safe and comfortable place, without being seen by the child next to you in the classroom.
- Easy to use.
Caitlin Puzzar, co-founder and CEO of Guardian, Inc. said, "We are excited to be a part of this project.”.
One simple way to protect children is to connect them to those who can solve their SOS calls, while also protecting their personal information. The needs of the children should come first. We welcome inquiries from municipalities and schools nationwide interested in introducing kimino micata.
Please contact us at info@guardian-jp.com
April Dream” is a project by PR TIMES to communicate the dreams that companies want to realize on April 1. We are serious about making this dream a reality.
