Cards for humanity

Psychology graduate designs anti-bullying board game, Xu Lin reports.

Being on the receiving end of bullying is an unpleasant, traumatic experience. It is in no way a game figuratively speaking, let alone a common theme for one in the literal sense. However, Xizi, 22, who doesn't wish to reveal her real name, in a bid to raise awareness of the issue and save others from suffering similar to her own traumatic, decadelong experience of being bullied on campus, has designed one.

The news has become a trending topic, garnering more than 160 million hits on micro-blogging platform Sina Weibo, and the board game won an award at the recent 7th iStart Children's Art Festival.

Xizi majored in psychology and graduated from a university in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, this year. She says her original aim was to raise awareness about school bullying among junior middle school students with the board game.

"I hope each teenager who has once struggled with the pain can live as bravely as he or she wants to," she adds.

As the game has received a lot of media exposure, she says she hopes that it will act as a call to action for people to pay attention to school bullying, including students, teachers, legislators and government officials.

In 2019, she was not only diagnosed with depression, but also Asperger's syndrome－a condition on the autism spectrum which affects the ability to effectively communicate with others.

She then realized that some of the characteristics of Asperger's syndrome, such as a difficulty in assessing the feelings of others, make her come across as "an unsociable person" and increase the chances that she will be marginalized.