11-year-old bullied one plant and praised another as a science experiment — the difference shows even plants can’t survive negativity
The experiment showed how the kind of words you say can impact livings
People often underestimate the power of words, whether cruel or kind. 11-year-old Samatha Petraglia from Commack, New York, conducted an experiment to show how words can impact any living being by experimenting on two plants. The reason why Petraglia wanted to do this experiment was that she was also a victim of bullying in school. The story was reported by CBS New York and received 264,089 views and 2,800 likes.
On a 'mean word' diet
Petraglia got help from her mother for her science fair project. They bought two peace lilies from the same nursery and placed them on the same windowsill in her classroom. This would allow the plants the same amount of water and sunlight every day. The only difference was that one plant was fed kind words, while the other was bullied. The fifth-grade students would say mean things to it every single day. Amy Petraglia explained, "The rules were, with bullying the plant, say mean things to it. Call the plant ugly. Call the plant fat. Call the plant stupid. No cursing, obviously, but just be mean to it." The 'bullied plant' started wilting right away and died on the sixth day. However, the plant nourished with nice words continued to grow. Amy told the news outlet, "If bullying a plant for just six days basically kills it, imagine bullying a child."
Similar IKEA experiment
In the week leading up to May 4, an event titled 'Bully A Plant' was conducted by IKEA at a school in the United Arab Emirates. IKEA put two plants on a pedestal for 30 days and asked students to speak kind words to one plant and mean ones to the other. "The students’ comments were fed through speakers rigged into each enclosure," Global News reported. In the end, they found the 'validated' plant thriving while the bullied one was droopy and lifeless.
Bullying in school
A report published by the National Center for Education Statistics in 2022 revealed that 19.2% of students reported being bullied at school. Out of this number, 16.7% were males and 21.8% were females. Students in the 6th grade were bullied the most (26.9%) compared to students in higher grades: 7th grade (26.3%), 8th grade (25.2%), 10th grade (17.7%), 11th grade (10.4%), and 12th grade (14.8%). It also revealed that the most common form of bullying was spreading rumors about someone (13%) and being called names (11.9%). Samatha never revealed what kind of bullying she went through, but it was enough for her to take a stand and use her voice to show the negative impacts of bullying.
Plant parents were extremely supportive of Samatha Petraglia's experiment, and shared the different kinds of ways they treat their plants. @Aurical222 wrote, "As my nana said before she passed, 'your words can plant gardens or burn whole forests down.'" @MarshaMellowes commented, "What a wonderful young lady! Despite her being bullied herself, I can see that she will go far in life. Well done for bringing this experiment to your classmates. I'm sure some of them really needed to learn from this."
More on Scoop Upworthy
Dad shares the unorthodox but wholesome way in which he dealt with his son bullying a classmate
Teen who was being bullied by 3 guys in her class hatches an ingenious plan to teach them a lesson
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