Together From Schools We Disconnect Bullying

<< Background >>We applied for this project because cyberbullying is a very serious issue in schools and with young people all over the world:our aim was to discuss andfind solutions together. A project focused on understanding and potentially mitigating this phenomenon.All the students have the right to benefit from education with equal opprtunities and in a quality and high-level educational environment, so in schools where bullying by peers should not exist. Ourschools should try to reduce the number of bullying cases and should try to prevent school leaving and failure in education due to bullying. We needed tocontribute to a sustainable development and school success. Introducing innovative vision for digitalization and developing good social skills: we couldcontribute to create a more conscious and aware community of students; because one of the biggest problem of new generations is bullying andcyberbullying we taught a safer use of the Internet and the Internet tools: every day we see that the use of the Internet was not a correct one and it was notused in a conscoous way, so students needed to be aware of the dangers on the Internet and social networks. Institutions also needed to collaborate withthe families in communication.<< Objectives >>We wanted to achieve international competences against bullying using new methods and new shared models such as for example the Kiva model:preparing digital teaching materials and becoming aware of the use of digital tools. The students became aware of the correct use of the Internet whilelearning, using and developing their digital competences in order to achieve the abilities to fight cyberbullying.They learnt to respect each other despitethei gender, language, culture, religion, ethnic origins, different values. They learnt to develop empathy, to practise inclusion, to respect equality, toprevent discrimination, to involve every one in every activity, to collaborate, to help the weakest ones. They learnt to cooperate with peers and with adults,to ask for help if they are in need both to adults and to their peers. They acquired a new conscoiusness about their capacities and they learnt to notconsider their weakness as a problem but to take advantage of it by finding an alternative solution to their problems with the help of their peers and of theadults.<< Implementation >>We implememented several and different activities: first of all we learnt and we applied the new KiVa model that comes from Finnish education systemand it was exported to many countries; we activeted a training module for teachers in the first mobility in Turkey where we developed our competences inthis subject and we planned the following activities based on this model. We examineted the different types of bullying and with the guide of this newmodel we planned some examples of practice against peer bullying. We pointed the focus on the resolution of conflicts and on the practices of mediation.The participant teachers developed a new perspective and new skills about the different types of bullying: thanks to KiVa model they are able to realizewhat needs to be done against bullying. In the second mobility in Italy workshops were held about the digital dimension of this phenomen: activities on thecorrect use of the Internet and Internet tools, workshop on eSafety applications and on digital teaching materials; meetings with police forces who showedall the dangers and the laws to oppose bullying and cyberbullying.<< Results >>Thanks to educational workshops in the schools we reached lots of students from age 13 to 16, topics included identifying bullying behaviors, safe onlinepractices, and strategies for intervention.We developed some materials: a guide for teachers and school staff with strategies to recognize, prevent, andrespond to bullying, distributing safety guide for teens, developing a teacher toolkit with lesson plans and activities thanks to the Kiva model learned inTurkey. We developed activities and exercises to promote empathy, inclusiveness, and awareness about bullying for students aged 12–18. Workshops totrain teachers on handling bullying, cyberbullying, and conflicts. Events organized across partner schools, including talks, poster contests, and student-ledpresentations. Short films or testimonials by students shared on social media to raise awareness.Theatrical performances: student-created playsaddressing the emotional impact of bullying resolution. Students trained as peer mediators to help resolve conflicts among classmates non-violently.