The Council of Europe works in co-operation with the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children to prevent and address all forms of violence against children in schools. The most common of those violence is Bullying and it has wider social and economic costs as well as a long-term impact as the effects persist into adult life. And, types of Bullying have been changing according to the current situations. For instance, While cyberbullying was not a topic decades ago, now, it is the most common version of it. If ιnvolved in school, bullying can be a sign of future antisocial and criminal behaviour. Bullying occurs in all countries in Europe. Violence towards children, as defined in Article 19 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, takes numerous forms (physical, sexual or emotional abuse or neglect) and may take place in various contexts: at home, at school, within institutions, etc. The values of freedom, tolerance, respect for diversity and non-discrimination are the main focuses of European societies. Bullying at schools damages these values. It is also a key factor in early school leaving and has serious and long-term effects. It affects mental health and the academic performance of children. The theme of our Project is connected to the 2015 Paris Declaration on promoting citizenship and the common values of freedom, tolerance and non-discrimination through education aiming for “Inclusive education, equality, nondiscrimination “ and “tackling discrimination, racism, segregation, bullying, violence and stereotypes”. During the surveys applied at partner schools, the students were asked If They had
ever been bullied or met a child WHO had been bullied?” %28 of the students answered “Yes”. Also, 67% of the school Administrators and Teachers stated that They are trying to prevent Bullying through disciplinary punishments or formal ways but they do not have the expected impact on the issue especially in the long term. 74% of them think that we need to educate them on how to behave well and how to be a good person and friend and How to protect themselves against bullying. The project will contribute; to raise awareness of violence against children and the presence of school bullying to respect and strengthen diversity in our community and schools to promote peace and tolerance among pupils to enrich intercultural awareness to strengthen the Professional skills of teachers to decrease the failure and other problems resulted from Bullying in schools. We would like to work on the bullying problem in an international level because exchanging ideas and experiences would open new doors to find practical ways to solve the problem while having a chance to create a different environment in schools through Cultural elements. “Be True, Do not Bully”, BTDB, is a Project to be carried out in the concept of Erasmus+ programme with the participation of 5 partners from Italy, the coordinator, Turkey, Spain, Greece and Croatia. BTDB is aiming to combine the activities against Bullying with Cultural elements to strengthen the impact of those acts to prevent Bullying. The project will contribute to raising awareness of violence against children, respect diversity in our schools and to promote peace and tolerance among pupils of different European countries, to enrich intercultural awareness. We would like to work on the bullying problem at an international level. Because exchanging ideas and experiences would open new doors to feel as European
Citizens. Objectives of our Project are to reduce bullying at schools through teacher trainings, students’ and parents” activities and pupil exchanging activities.