Be CyberWise! - Bullying and cyberbullying in the world of silence and not only
Bullying and cyberbullying in the world of silence and not only- Be CyberWise!
The effects of bullying can be devastating, leaving you feeling helpless, humiliated, angry, depressed, even suicidal, leaving students with low motivation to learn. In the past years there was a tendency to familiarize young children with IT, through which they learn things, habits, skills. So, through technology, bullying is no longer limited, so cyberbullying can happen anywhere, through smartphones, emails, texts and social media. Children with disabilities are two to three times more likely to be bullied than children without disabilities.
In Romania, as well as in most schools in the European Union, students are increasingly connected to social networks, and the time spent on the Internet facilitates the increase in bullying and, in particular, cyberbullying. For the health of all children and the community, it is important that schools, families and organizations address this issue and raise awareness about cyberbullying and bullying.
In the education of students, especially those with hearing impairments, formal education must be combined with non-formal education, so that they can understand the message conveyed. The use of dramatic activities is absolutely necessary to understand various facts; therefore, both teachers and students should be trained and involved in dramatic activities.
Students with special educational needs have low self-esteem due to society's prejudice to exclude them.
Starting from the situation presented above, the Special Professional School for the Hearing Impaired "St. Mary" initiated and coordinated, during 2020-2022, the Erasmus + project "Bullying and cyberbullying in the world of silence and not only - Be CyberWise!", with no. 2020-1-RO01-KA229-080106.
The main objective of the project was to develop emotional intelligence, so that students in mainstream schools, as well as those with special educational needs, strengthen their skills of awareness and self-control and learn empathy towards others, as well as in developing the skills of pre-university teachers for preventing bullying and cyberbullying in schools for of a modern, inclusive school.
The specific objectives of the project aimed towards:
-developing communication skills in English and international sign language of 70 students
-developing emotional intelligence of 70 students so that they can learn the skills of awareness and self-control as well as having empathy towards others.
-developing in 65 teachers the skills to support drama activities through which students can develop self-awareness and self-control skills and learn how to empathize with others.
-65 teachers combined training with non-formal education in their teaching activity.
-65 teachers were initiated and acquired basic skills in international sign language.
The target group consisted of:
- 28 students with disabilities from schools in Romania and Macedonia, secondary school level (12-16 years old)
- 42 students from Portugal, Czech Republic, Slovakia, secondary school level (12-16 years old)
- 65 teachers from the five partner schools
Institutions partnering in the project were:
¨ Agrupamento de Escolas Vale do Tamel, PORTUGALIA
¨ DUCOR "Partenija Zografski„, Skopje, MACEDONIA
¨ Zakladna skola s materskou skolou, Bystričany, SLOVACIA
¨ Zakladni skola Odry, Komenskeho 6, prispevkova organizace, Odry, CEHIA
The main main activities of the project included:
- a training course "How to stop bullying and cyberbullying and promote social emotional learning", organized in Macedonia (the course support was made by the team of Macedonia, Romania and the Czech Republic) - September 2021. The course included information, theoretical notions, methods of bullying and cyberbullying prevention, examples of good practices and testimonials.
- the involvement of 200 students (40 from each country) in English language activities, training on drama topics, international sign language and the specific culture of European countries, the creation of the project logo, the guide of good practices in the prevention of bullying and cyberbullying, posters, leaflets
- the direct participation of 70 students in the two camps, organized in Slovakia (October 2021) and Portugal (April-May 2022): "Say No! to bullying and cyberbullying", completed with 10 flashmobs, 10 dramas and 10 stories on the topic of bullying and cyberbullying and a photovoice exhibition. 7 students from each country participated. The students were accompanied by 2 teachers. Each stream was structured over a period of 10 days, with 2 days for travel.
- a final transnational meeting, organized in Romania (June 2022) where 3 teachers from each partner school participated
In the camp activities according to the programs established by the responsible teams, the students developed their communication skills in English, sign language, social, civic and intercultural skills necessary for their social inclusion, with the help of role play therapy, dramatization and socialization .
During the project, posters with vibrant, emotional messages were created; materials in electronic format, about bullying and its prevention. The innovative character of the project consisted in the transposition of information into sign language, posted on the project website.
The teachers who participated in the mobilities within the project acquired the ability to support drama activities through which students developed self-awareness and self-control skills and learned how to empathize with others. The participants in the target group developed their knowledge of the English language and the skills necessary to combine formal and non-formal education in their teaching activity in order to make lessons as attractive and interesting as possible for students.
Knowing the common aspects of bullying and cyberbullying gave teachers the opportunity to shape personalities capable of defending themselves and preventing bullying and cyberbullying in schools.
As part of the project, materials were created that can be used by all, students and teachers, during counseling classes as support materials, but also in other extracurricular activities, a starting point for discussions, debates or forum theater:
- 10 flash mobs:
- flash mob 1.a - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9Ki1Ypzivw
- flash mob 2.a - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BazIKY5JoZc
- flash mob 3.a - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YI2EptIOQD8
- flash mob 4.a - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8lhWSRkZRk
- flash mob 1.b - https://youtu.be/CMy4oE9fvqA
- flash mob 2.b - https://youtu.be/NIw_DSC1hQ8
- flash mob 3.b - https://youtu.be/XqrSKBwmct0
- flash mob 4.b- https://youtu.be/SyOWx2Qnbi4
- flash mob 5.b - https://youtu.be/k5Rnw6_DQZM
- flash mob 6.b - https://youtu.be/4Ixi4yzx60g
- 10 drama skits:
- cyberbullying - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZbIiZsNIG8
- physical bullying - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OybItMYBp4
- social bullying - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Gty0rFVAqI&t=4s
- verbal bullying - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2d_biuNfD4
- the dangers of Internet - https://youtu.be/3BwDDbhISvQ
- the book - https://youtu.be/n_9w92Z4iok
- the emigrant - https://youtu.be/zrT_zZZA-cQ
- the phone - https://youtu.be/H8rPzElyPQE
- the power of family - https://youtu.be/OgPGWuGc4VI
- in school - https://youtu.be/TyZ0IRwP9sg
- 4 stories translated into sign language:
- cyberbullying story - https://youtu.be/_EgJ4bEF90I
- physical bullying story – https://youtu.be/m4k6eWQK5A8
- verbal bullying story - https://youtu.be/DtCmIZx8l3U
- social bullying story - https://youtu.be/MRA49lfLdyc
The best practices guide in the prevention of bullying and cyberbullying made by the teaching staff involved in the project brings information about these phenomena, the manifestation of aggression according to gender, the characters of the bullying phenomenon, the relationships between the aggressor - victim - observer, bullying in schools and its consequences, measures and strategies to deal with bullying, ways to report it, theater – a tool to combat bullying, games for developing empathy, role-playing, group activities, therapeutic stories, films in therapeutic intervention. The guide can be downloaded for free,
More information about the project can be found on the school website: https://www.scoalasurzi2bucuresti.ro/index.php/proiecte-si-programe/proiecte-internationale/be-cyberwise/
or on the project's social page:
https://www.facebook.com/Be-CyberWise-Erasmus-project-107585687751567
