“School without violence”

Project, school, violence, protection, prevention

National Project

Children, students, teachers, parents, administrators

UNICEF Bulgaria and State Agency for Child Protection

Bulgaria

English

Parents, Teachers, Young People, School Directors.

During the period 2007-2008 UNICEF Bulgaria together with the State Agency for Child Protection initiated a project for prevention of violence between children. The main project idea is to support for prevention of harassment among children in schools and establishment of a safe and supportive school environment. Specialists work with teachers, children and the school community, showing them new ways for communication and dealing with problems without aggression. The entire school community is involved in the project. “School without violence” creates an opportunity for lowering the level of school violence – teachers and students together set clear rules, which in no case allow the expression of aggression or harassment.

The school transforms into a place, where children learn that violence is unacceptable and know how to deal with problems peacefully. The project leads to the formation of an overall school policy, based on values, attitudes and rules for behavior, which lies at the grounds of a long-term strategy of violence prevention.
The project started in 6 schools in Sofia and included children from 5th to 7th grade. Until 2008 the project encompassed additional schools and students from 1st till 7th grade.
The complete documentation of the “School without violence” can be found here: http://www.unicef.bg/bg/campaigns/publications/uchilishte-bez-nasilie
During 2009 the children from secondary school 134 in Sofia presented UNICEF with their declaration against aggression and violence in school – a result from their project work. It contains 6 main points: NO to insult; NO to disrespecting one’s own space; NO to physical aggression; NO to psychological aggression; NO to verbal aggression; NO to all kinds of relationship, which humiliate a person. This declaration has been signed by more than 500 students, teachers, celebrities, who participated in the event and demonstrated their attitude in favor of the UNICEF project.
A very useful book for parents on the topic of cyber-bullying has been developed and can be downloaded from here: http://www.unicef.bg/bg/publications/kibertormozut-knijka-za-roditeli.

Definition of bullying or cyberbullying, Parent training/meetings, Playground supervision, Classroom management, Teacher training, Classroom rules, Whole-school anti-bullying policy, Information for parents, Cooperative group work.

The proposed good practice is considered quite interesting due to its very well organized character, the fact that it encompassed a number of schools and young children – even starting at 1st grade. The project could be continued with involvement of schools throughout the country, not just from Sofia.
The strong points of the practice are: paying attention to different kinds of bullying and violence, including cyber-bullying; involvement of the entire school community in joint expert-monitored activities; adequate playground and class room supervision and setting of strict anti-violence and anti-aggression rules, which all project participants must follow; provision of information and guidance also to parents, as well as cooperative work, which is useful also for the future personal achievements and progress of the children.
The project provides a number of guide-books, brochures and informative materials, which can be consulted by different kinds of users. All materials are available in a user-friendly format online. pages

Child protection is a strategic priority for UNICEF in Bulgaria. Specific solutions to child problems are being sought after. The joint activities and efforts of UNICEF and different Bulgarian institutions aim at the development and reforming of the entire system for child protection, synchronization of the work of the different institutions, placing the interests of the child on top of everything else. “School without violence” is a part of the larger UNICEF project “Prevention of violence among children”, which took place in Bulgaria during the period 2006-2009 and was quite successful in the schools, which took part of it.

Evaluations of project results can be found here in the section for media, news, events and project results: http://www.unicef.bg/bg/press

Zornitsa Staneva

Zinev Art Technologies

Project manager