Filenews 14 May 2023 - by Angelos Nicolaou
School violence and juvenile delinquency are very serious issues that nowadays often take on great dimensions and concern the whole society. According to surveys used by UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund) of the United Nations to alleviate the problem, almost half of students aged 13 to 18 worldwide have experienced violence by their peers either inside or outside the school environment, while, as would be expected, a much higher percentage of students have witnessed or been subject to the phenomena of violence and delinquency. According to UNICEF, the most common form of school violence is bullying.
In our country, despite the measures taken by the State, there is a periodic increase in violence and delinquency in schools, especially in terms of destruction, arson and vandalism in school premises, as well as school bullying. The Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth (YPAN), through a series of preventive measures it takes, through the promotion of actions and good practices, seems determined to strike at the root of the problem, since the aim is to prevent the occurrence of phenomena of violence and delinquency and not to suppress them afterwards.
>What causes violence and delinquency in schools?
Violence/delinquency in schools can take the form of physical violence, psychological violence, sexual violence and bullying, including cyberbullying. Violence occurs more frequently among students, but sometimes it can also occur between students and teachers.
Before proceeding to the presentation of the actions, measures and good practices implemented by the Ministry of Education on the issue of violence and delinquency in schools, let us briefly look at the main causes of this sad phenomenon and its impact on students.
Many factors contribute to school violence. The main ones are poor parenting within the family, extreme religious beliefs, lack of adequate teacher training, domestic violence, poor living conditions, social inequality, silence about violence in the community, unsatisfactory legal framework, as well as excessive exposure to the media and, especially, on Social Media.
Children affected by violence can suffer physically and/or mentally. Violence/delinquency can cause a sharp decline in their academic performance, intense psychological burden, depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, self-isolation, and even suicidal tendencies.
>Promotion of actions and good practices by the Ministry of Environment
The Ministry of Education, within the framework of the National Strategy it has designed and implements for the Prevention and Management of Violence at School, has promoted a series of actions and good practices, with the primary goal of reducing and, ideally, preventing the occurrence of violence and delinquency either inside or outside school premises. Below are some of these actions and good practices that attempt to put the brakes on violence in our schools, led by the Observatory on Violence at School of the Pedagogical Institute and the Educational Psychology Service of the Ministry of Education.
1. Inter-school competition
This action is undertaken in cooperation with the Council for the Prevention and Handling of Crime of the Ministry of Justice and Public Order, the Observatory on Violence at School, the Pedagogical Institute and the Office of the Commissioner for Volunteerism. Through the action, a competition is announced and school units in which good practices for the prevention of violence and juvenile delinquency have been applied are awarded. The good practices that will be implemented by schools are part of the Unified School Unit Improvement Plan, which each school determines and implements from the beginning of the school year.
The school awards aim to encourage initiatives for in-school activities that promote the creation of a positive climate in schools and the cooperation and involvement of students in creative and enjoyable activities, with the ultimate goal of preventing and reducing violence and juvenile delinquency.
During this school year, the theme of the Competition is the promotion, disclosure and implementation of the policy for the prevention and management of school bullying in the context of the prevention of violence and juvenile delinquency at school and the promotion of active citizenship.
Each school that will take part in the competition needs to present and explain the process developed and followed for the implementation of actions for the prevention and management of violence/delinquency, documenting the collective participation of teachers, students and other members of the school community, as well as relevant bodies. In addition, each school should submit the evidence of its action, i.e. the work that has been developed, in one or more forms (e.g. video creation, creation/presentation of a theatrical event).
The general evaluation criteria of the actions are the active involvement of students and cooperation with other target groups (teachers and parents), the connection of the actions with the Health Education and Delinquency Prevention Plan and with the Unified School Improvement Plan, the cooperation with services and bodies outside the school, as well as originality, resourcefulness and creativity.
The awards ceremony takes place each year at a special ceremony during which the winning schools have the opportunity to present their activities. Each awarded school is given a symbolic amount of money. This amount is used for initiatives and actions related to the prevention of violence at school and juvenile delinquency, in cooperation with the Observatory on Violence at School.
More information and examples of good practices from previous years' competitions can be found at:pi.ac.cy/pi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3211&Itemid=503&lang=el
2. Training Program for Heads of Departments on school violence and delinquency
The Training Program for Heads of Departments on school violence and delinquency for all teachers of Primary and Secondary Education is promoted by the Pedagogical Institute, in collaboration with the Directorates of School Education and the Services of the Ministry of Education. The aim of the Program is for teachers to improve the knowledge, attitudes and skills required for the prevention and management of violence and delinquency, from the position of their institutional role as Heads of Departments. It is expected that the strengthening of the Head Departments will be a protective factor for the children of their department, but also for themselves, while it will give them the ability to become able to contribute to the support of all children, in order to develop a healthy and strong bond of the child with his teacher, his department and his school and this bond to be a protective factor for issues of violence and delinquency.
Following the pilot offer of the Program in June 2022 in online form, this year, the Program is offered remotely and in asynchronous form, utilizing the Online Learning Environment of the Pedagogical Institute (elearn.pi.ac.cy/). Therefore, teachers have the opportunity to attend it at a time that they decide themselves and at their own personal pace. For the convenience of teachers, a detailed Learners' Guide has been developed, which includes all the necessary information and steps for attending the Program.
The content of the Program consists of three thematic units: a) Prevention and Management Policies, b) Personalized Support for Children and c) Development of Teacher Skills. Each section includes the video presentations of the speakers, as well as a small number of activities with direct feedback.
For this year the Program is available until August 31, 2023 and the expected time for its completion is estimated at twelve hours. To date, more than two thousand teachers have registered to participate in the Program, of which about 500 have already completed it successfully.
More information about the Program is posted on the website of the Pedagogical Institute, at the link: pi.ac.cy/pi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3857&Itemid=501&lang=el.
Teacher training and prevention
This action is promoted through the Observatory on Violence at School of the Pedagogical Institute. It provides support to schools and offers Training Programs for teachers aimed at improving the school climate, with the ultimate goal of reducing violence in schools. These Programs focus either entirely on the individual level (Optional Seminars, Workshops-Conferences), or connect the individual level with the collective level (Network of Secondary Education Schools, Training Program for Heads of Departments), or focus only on the collective level of the school.
The Observatory on Violence at School offers structured Training Programs on a school basis. The support for the implementation of these programs by officers of the Observatory is made according to the needs and particularities of each school unit. The programs are: a) Prevention and management of School Bullying in Gymnasium, b) When uninvolved spectators become active spectators: Prevention and management of school bullying in Kindergartens and Primary schools, c) Prevention and management of school conflicts in Kindergartens and Primary Schools and d) Network of Secondary Education Schools (Gymnasiums, Lyceums, Technical Schools) for analysis, prevention and treatment of behavior problems using its psychopedagogical methods systemic (or ecosystem) approach.
A basic prerequisite for the school's involvement in a Program is the agreement of the teachers of the school unit. The trainings take place in groups of teachers for at least 50% of the staff or in plenary during school time and teachers commit to be involved in the implementation of the Program, e.g. in teaching relevant subjects and applying techniques. Within the framework of the Program, there is also the possibility of informing and/or training the parents/guardians of the school's students.
This school year, the Observatory on Violence at School offers support programs to 53 schools and 1204 teachers of all levels.
More information and training material are posted on the Observatory's website at link pi.ac.cy/pavis.
>School bullying issues
The Pedagogical Institute offers special training on the issue of school bullying, through its structures. More specifically, trainings are implemented in the context of school-based seminars, optional seminars, the Training Program for Education Executives, the operation of the Network of Schools of the Pedagogical Institute, the support of antiracist policy, the Two-Day Training of Teachers of all levels, seminars for parents and online courses for students in non-working time.
Regarding bullying and cyberbullying, it is noted that the Pedagogical Institute coordinates the "Cyprus Safer Internet Center – CyberSafety IV", one of the main actions of which is the provision of educational programs, with the participation of children, young people, teachers and parents, on issues related to cyberbullying. It also provides the 1480 Hotline offering a direct point of reference for reports of illegal content or actions online, including cyberbullying.
The Educational Psychology Service of the Ministry of Education and Culture is also in the battle
The Educational Psychology Service of the Ministry of Education organizes actions, interventions, programs, experiential workshops and presentations, aiming at the prevention and handling of mental health problems as well as the smoother adaptation of children to the school context. These actions are addressed either to the entire student population, teachers, parents and the school community in general, or to special cases of children for whom, after the completion of the psychodiagnostic process, individualized interventions are planned based on the needs that arise. Specifically:
1. Trainings
The HPS trains a large number of teachers from all levels of education (Primary, Middle and Technical) on various issues such as: management of cases of child sexual abuse, bullying, school violence, transition from Primary to High School, management of students' emotional reactions in times of crisis, etc. Mental health trainings are also provided to parents/guardians.
2. Preventive programs and experiential workshops for students
Experiential workshops are a method of training and awareness raising that aims to help students develop coping and communication skills in order to effectively manage their difficulties. They take place in a designated area for groups and participants are given the opportunity to process their personal experiences and try solutions so that they can apply them in the future. The experiential workshops implemented by the HPS deal with topics such as friendship, diversity, anger management, conflict management, the impact of the internet, the development of mental resilience, the recognition and management of emotions and the strengthening of self-confidence. Also, in recent years, the "Support Circle" Program, the "Adolescent Discussions" Program as well as the preventive program "Happy Classes" are being implemented, promoted by the Ministry of Education in the context of positive education and the promotion of mental health of all students.
3. Presentations by HPS
These specialized presentations of the Educational Psychology Service are addressed to students, parents/guardians and teachers. The presentations concern the following topics: ● Positive psychology - positive education, ● Crisis management in schools, ● Bereavement and loss, ● Stress management, ● Mental resilience, ● Anger management, ● Discipline, boundaries, consequences, ● Transition from Kindergarten to Primary School, ● Transition from Primary School to Gymnasium, ● The role of the school psychologist - Psychoeducational presentation to parents, ● Internet addiction: General characteristics, etiology and practical ways of managing in the school context, ● Management of difficult behaviours, ● Online presentations to high school students all over Cyprus on mental empowerment, ● Empathy, ● Gratitude, ● Bullying.
Athena Michaelidou: Prevention is a priority of the Ministry of Environment
In statements to Phileleftheros, the Minister of Education, Sports and Youth Athena Michaelidou said that the prevention of violence and delinquency in schools is a priority for the Ministry of Education, since it is a goal that, if achieved, will have a decisively positive impact on the whole society. The Minister pointed out that the Governance Programme of the President of the Republic itself provides for the enrichment and enhancement of our educational programs with actions that promote empathy, prevention, tackling bullying, gender equality and respect for diversity and diversity. Michaelidou also provides for an evaluation of the effectiveness of the Code of Conduct against racism in schools and the Guide for the Management and Recording of Racist Incidents, with the aim of upgrading educational programs and actions that will empower schools and cultivate a strong attitude of prevention against incidents of any discrimination. Within this framework, noted Mrs. Michaelidou, as Ministry of Education, we will move with determination to further improve the conditions in our schools and to drastically reduce or even eliminate the phenomena of school violence and juvenile delinquency. The aim should not be to create prison schools, but schools-places of creation and learning, the Minister concluded.
Regarding the extreme incidents of violence observed in our schools, Ms. Michaelidou said that these concern many actors (police, communities, school, parents, etc.), which should cooperate in order to deal with them comprehensively, as a social phenomenon. Already, he added, for a temporary treatment of the problem, suspensive measures are being discussed, such as the installation of cameras and the strengthening of the security of school premises.
INTERVENTION
Determination is needed
Undoubtedly, delinquent behaviour and violence, in any form, are sad phenomena that concern the whole society. Especially when violence occurs on school grounds, the bleak predictions for the future of our society are understandably increasing. The policy of the Ministry of Education to give priority to the prevention of school violence and juvenile delinquency is moving in the absolutely right direction. We hope that all these actions and good practices promoted will have the desired effect. The new Minister of Education has already given signs of her determination to correct the "wrongs" in the field of education. The first is to show the same determination on the issues of violence. The second, its effort to be supported by all stakeholders and by the State in general.
