THE SAFE IN OUR WORLD CHARTER
The main goal of Safe In Our World is to create and foster worldwide mental health awareness within the video game industry; to eliminate the stigma surrounding mental health, to make it a natural topic of discussion, and to promote the dialogue surrounding mental health so people are not afraid to reach out for help if they need it.
Safe In Our World also aims to assist people who don’t suffer from mental health issues in understanding these afflictions as well as identifying symptoms, their signs, and any related challenges so they are better equipped to help others in a proactive and educated manner.
We envision our website, SafeInOurWorld.org, as an engaging and evolving worldwide hub for information, news, features, videos, and support related to all facets of mental health in the video game industry, including hero stories of key figures who have fought their own personal battles with mental illness.
Safe In Our World intends to mobilise the video game industry in helping to promote the charity and its message, calling upon game developers and publishers to provide extensive mental health support for their employees as well as place brand imagery and links in key locations throughout their consumer-facing outlets.
Part of our mission involves promoting forward-thinking game developers like Emily Mitchell, whose mental health-focused title Fractured Minds is meant to serve as a vehicle to get the message out about mental health issues and how they can be overcome. It is our hope that we can generate enough income via sales of Fractured Minds to employ a permanent, full-time team entirely focused on generating and maintaining momentum for the charity.
More importantly, Safe In Our World is asking the industry to lead by example; to really embrace the subject of mental health in the workplace and commit resources toward training key staff members about mental health issues. In 2020, we launched Level Up, a campaign to encourage companies to commit to mental health support within the workplace. Our toolkit outlines guidelines that game companies can integrate into their daily operations. These guidelines will also prove invaluable for content creators and online communities. Not to be invoked lightly, the Safe In Our World brand should act as a statement of intent by those using it to commit considerable effort and resources toward promoting mental health awareness and outreach in their own organisations and communities, as well as the wider video game industry.
The game industry is nothing if not creative, and what better way to engender positive discussions about mental health than through competitions rooted in creativity? Game development, video content, creative writing, art, and more; all of these creative endeavors will see global competitions set up to stimulate audiences and bring to the world a greater understanding and awareness of mental health.
Safe In Our World will conduct primary and secondary research into the effects of video games on mental health issues, with an initial goal to investigate the links between these subjects while determining their benefits and drawbacks.
Finally, Safe In Our World will also work with other mental health organisations around the world to help reinforce our message and engender mental health awareness on a global scale.
This is our charter; this is for starters. Please support this journey. Be Safe In Our World.