Protecting children from violence and bullying
Children need to feel safe at home and at school
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The challenge
According to a study conducted by UNICEF, bullying by peers or older children was reported by 60.1% of schoolchildren in grades 5-7 and by 82.1% of residents of residential institutions. In 2013–2019, the number of sexual crimes committed against children has increased 20 times, of which 80% occurred on the Internet.
More than 30% of children have experienced online bullying and intimidation. However, most of them do not tell their parents about that.
All children are entitled to be protected against violence, exploitation and abuse.
The government has been implementing measures to combat human trafficking and sexual exploitation, but there has been no strategy to counter cyber abuse against children so far. The current legislation also does not define threats such as harassment or online contacting for the purpose of sexual exploitation via the Internet (“grooming”), and it does not criminalize the possession of child pornography without the intent of its distribution.
The solution
We work to create a safe and supportive school environment that motivates the entire community to adhere to non-violent behavior and that helps address peer bullying.
To do this, we have launched the project: Safe and Enabling Environment in Schools (SEES). The project partners are the Belarusian State Pedagogical University and the Ministry of Education of Belarus. This is an adaptation of the Croatian model of the “For Safe and Enabling School Environment” Project. The Croatian model has proven itself well in Europe. In Croatian schools, where the model was introduced, the number of bullying incidents was halved.
In 2020, the pilot project started in 26 schools in Belarus.
The promotion of the model consists of diagnosing violence and bullying in schools, informing parents and school staff about the problem, establishing clear rules of behavior and communication, monitoring their observance, and other actions.
There is a mentor — a freelance participant of the educational process — working at all stages. The mentor becomes a link between school employees, children and parents, because the mentor has a fresh look at things familiar to the teaching team.
UNICEF Belarus and MTS have launched the #InternetWithoutBulling project to help children and adolescents who have faced online bullying. The main goal of the project is to provide information about safe online behavior and help tools to be used in case of cyberbullying. We believe that children and their parents need to be taught how to use the Internet safely and how to avoid danger. And they need information on where to go when their child has a problem. It is necessary that the child be referred to psychologists and other specialists.
UNICEF has also developed the kids.pomogut.by online resource providing information on safe online behavior to children and their parents. The website purpose is anonymous and free online confidential counseling on online violence prevention.
You don't have to wear a superhero cape to change someone's life. Sometimes one brave act is enough.
Online or offline: child abuse is real. And it can be stopped only by the efforts of everyone, because safety begins with us.
Outcomes
11,500 teenagers in grades 5-9 were trained in the 2020-2021 academic year to identify and counter bullying under a pilot comprehensive anti-bullying program deployed in 26 schools across Belarus.
There were capacity-building activities for psychologists and teachers knowledgeable and skilled to create a safe school environment.
The UPSHIFT sessions were organized for adolescents, following which UNICEF supported children's projects on countering violence.