멈춰!

Origin

"Meomchwo!" ("Stop!") is a slogan from a school violence prevention campaign that came back to life as an internet meme about ten years later. The original idea was that if you saw a classmate being bullied, you would shout "Stop!" on the spot, and the students around you would join in shouting "Stop!" until the violence ended.

The campaign emerged as calls for action against school violence grew after a middle school student in Daegu who had been bullied died by suicide in late 2011. On February 23, 2012, about 200 students, parents and members of civic and religious groups gathered at Daegu Central Library for a declaration ceremony launching the "School Violence STOP!" movement, then marched to a plaza in front of a downtown department store while chanting "Stop." Maeil Shinmun reported that the movement was modeled on a campaign begun in Norway in 1982 after three bullied students died by suicide. "Stop" was later introduced into school prevention programs.

Spread

It did not last long in schools. Insight reported that the slogan was introduced in 2012 but faded away after being criticized as "a typical show of bureaucratic box-ticking," as many doubted that a single shout could halt real bullying.

The forgotten slogan was revived in the first half of 2021, amid a wave of school-bullying allegations against figures in entertainment and sports. The awkward acting of students in an educational video made at the time, and the mismatch between a serious situation and a shout of "Stop!", drew laughs and established it as a meme on social media and online communities. People parodied the slogan by attaching "___, stop!" to every unwelcome situation.

An unexpected benefit was also reported. According to Insight in May 2021, the meme lowered the barrier so that anyone could shout "Stop!" as easily as a joke. One teacher said, "If even one student starts saying 'stop,' the others join in because it's fun, and it really does stop." The assessment was that a slogan once mocked had, as a meme, begun working the way it was originally intended.

Usage

• Swapping in whatever you want to end, as in "Stock slump, stop!" or "Monday, stop!"
• A half-joking "Stop!" when teasing or banter among friends goes too far
• Comment relays mimicking the original campaign, with many people shouting "Stop!" in turn

Sources

• Maeil Shinmun, "[Video News] Daegu launches School Violence STOP! campaign" (February 23, 2012) — the declaration ceremony at Daegu Central Library with about 200 participants, the street march, the method of shouting "Stop," and its roots in a 1982 Norwegian campaign
• Insight, "School violence 'Stop!' becomes an internet meme, and its effect is showing" (May 18, 2021) — the 2012 introduction and criticism as box-ticking, its revival amid 2021 bullying allegations, the awkward acting in the educational video, a teacher's account and the meme's positive effect