On December 22, 2021, Chernihiv Polytechnic National University hosted an open space “Prevention of bullying: challenges and prospects” – the final event of the project “Steps to a safe community: bullying prevention in the youth”. environment ». The project was implemented by Chernihiv European NGO in partnership with Chernihiv Polytechnic National University under a small grants program administered by ISAR Unity under the United Nations Peacebuilding and Reconstruction Program with the financial support of the European Union. Project team: members of Chernihiv European NGO, associate professors of the Department of Social Work – Tetiana Detsiuk, project coordinator, Maryna Zakharina, Kateryna Maksom and Head of the Department of PR-Technology and Logistics Marketing Anna Verbytska.

Bullying as a social problem has a number of negative consequences: pedagogical (school maladaptation, academic failure); psychological (psychological disorders, socialization disorders); medical (trauma). Traditional methods (conversations, lectures, trainings) are not effective enough in working with modern adolescents. Therefore, the goal of the Open Space was to find effective alternative solutions to the problem of bullying, as well as to establish close cooperation between all stakeholders. Participants of the event, including representatives of the University, NGOs, education departments, youth centers, secondary schools, patrol police, presented their experience in combating youth bullying and joined in discussing prospects for further steps to develop a safe community.

Olha Melnyk, Vice-Rector for Scientific, Pedagogical and Educational Work of Chernihiv Polytechnic National University, made a welcoming speech and shared the University’s experience in combating bullying.

The head of the NGO “Chernihiv European” Hanna Dyvnych emphasized the important role of the project “Steps to safe community: bulling prevention in the youth environment” in the activities of the organization and community life.

Tetiana Davydova, Head of the Department of Vocational, Higher Education and Science of the Department of Education and Science of the Chernihiv Regional State Administration, stressed the need to unite the efforts of stakeholders in combating bullying.

Today, the legislation on combating bullying in educational institutions of Ukraine is in its infancy. An important step towards overcoming school bullying was the legislative regulation of this problem and the establishment of responsibility for bullying. Olha Melnyk, acting director, shared her experience in bullying prevention. head of the public relations department of the patrol police department in the Chernihiv region PPP.

The consequences of bullying are serious in both the short and long term. The current generation of digital technologies is very different from previous ones, so the methods of working with them must be different. Nelya Lavrinenko, director of the private educational institution Mudrangelyky, shared innovative approaches to working with children and youth.

Iryna Simonova, director of the Chernihiv Regional Youth Center, spoke about modern approaches to working with young people.

The team of the project “Steps to safe community: bullying prevention in the youth environment” presented an innovative approach to bullying prevention, based on a combination of cognitive and emotional components of information perception. The results of the work on the use of gamification tools for bullying prevention are outlined: the board game “Danger in Jungles” and social performance, through which imaginary parallels are drawn between the animal world and the human world.

The project involved 24 institutions: 12 institutions of general secondary education of Chernihiv region, 8 – ZZSO Chernihiv, KZ “Nizhyn City Youth Center, KZ” Chernihiv Regional Youth Center “, KZ” Training and Rehabilitation Center “CHOR and College of Economics and Technologies of Chernihiv Polytechnic National University. Project implementation communities: Koryukivska TG, Menska TG, Nizhyn TG, Bakhmatska TG, Gorodnyanska TG, Kulykivska TG, Kozeletska TG, Ripkynska TG, Chernihiv TG, Ivanivska TG, Snovska TG.

As part of the project, during November-December 2021, 10 master classes were held for 20 mentors from 10 TGs of Chernihiv region. At the networking stage, mentors conducted 120 games for ZSSO students. The social performance was watched by 508 students aged 12-16. Thanks to the performance, the audience was able to emotionally feel the problems of the heroes, as well as discuss them with experts, find answers to questions about bullying. This allowed teenagers not only to talk about existing problems, but also to find ways to prevent them through emotional experience, aesthetic perception and expert advice.

Following the results of the Open space further cooperation in the direction of use is planned.

Photo: NGO “Chernihiv European”.