Preventing bullying and cyberbullying with the power of socio-emotional learning

​Bullying behaviors, whether virtual or face-to-face, have negative impacts not only on victims and survivors, but on bullies too. The aim of this course was to learn about effective ways to prevent and tackle all forms of bullying in education and school settings, thanks to socio-emotional learning.

The new edition of the course “How to stop bullying and cyber bullying in schools and promote social emotional learning​” took place in Bologna from 17/07/2022 to 23/07/2022. We had participants from four different countries: Doina Mormenche, Mihaela Stiubianu and Adriana Tudose from Colegiul National "Alexandru Ioan Cuza” in Romania, Daiana-Alexandra Dragus and
Adrian Tudor from “Liceul Andrei Mureșanu Brașov” always in Romania, Raul Corraliza Nieto and
M Mar Santos Martin from “Arquitecto Pedro Gumiel School” in Spain, Luis Alberto Moral Pérez and Mónica Gorrita Cortés from “Institut Antoni Ballester and Escola Mediterrani” (Spain), Manuel Garcia Caballero from “Juan Ramón Jiménez School”, again in Spain, Nuray ÇAKIR and
Azra HÜNERLİ from “Osmangazi Primary School” in Turkey and Markéta Votočková from “NOVÝ PORG” in Czech republic.

We started with our introduction day where we brainstormed all the different kind of bullying behaviours: which forms does it takes? Who are the participants of a bullying scenario?  Which are the three main elements which distinguish bullying from conflict?
We moved on to talk about the victim: which are the risk factors that lead children to be bullied? And what can we do to prevent this situation?  What are the initiatives that can be carried out to prevent bullying behaviours? We looked at these topics by 4 different points of view: family, school, individual and community.
One of the main and most difficult types of bullying to be eradicated is cyber bullying. Nowadays Internet has a major role in the lives of our kids and may have a negative impact on them. However, it also has some positive sides. With some practical activities we explored the world of cyber bullying. We also discussed about the differences between traditional and cyber bullying and about the things that they have in common. To understand and put ourselves in the shoes of bullying victims we implemented a very powerful activity which can be used both with students, parents and teachers to raise awareness. Moreover, with some case scenarios, we discussed in groups how to practically solve a cyberbullying situation. 
In order to prevent bullying behaviours it is vital to foster a positive classroom environment. This is why we explored the topics of emotional intelligence, membership and inclusion and collaboration. These are pillars for a supportive classroom and should not be underestimated. Of course we discussed about this with a lot of non formal and creative activities and games, thanks to which it was impossible to get bored ;)
 
We concluded our course with the Olweus model of bullying prevention: a powerful tool that can and should be put into practice in every school, to eradicate the problem.
Indeed the true strength of this session was the energy and willingness to share of the whole group, either with words or with drawings and images.
Thank you to each of you for your participation!
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Discover more about this course in: https://www.erasmustrainingcourses.com/stop-bullying.html
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