Skip to main content

Week against bullying

 In Belgium, we have something called "The Week Against Bullying" (De Week Tegen Pesten).  This is mainly addressed in primary schools, where children are informed about the effects of bullying and learn how to recognize and prevent it during the Week Against Bullying. A major event during this week is a large concert organized by Ketnet, a children's TV channel. Everyone dances the "Move Against Bullying" and shows their support in the fight against bullying. To symbolize this, people put four dots on their hands, representing a kind of "antivirus" against bullying, signaling that they stand against it. Schools take several initiatives during this week to combat bullying and can win a prize that they can use to support their anti-bullying policies. 

I remember when I was younger this week was very fun, at that time for me it was not only about bullying but mostely about the big concert at the end of the week. My uncle, who is a school principal, says that during this Anti-Bullying Week, bullying decreases, but after this week, there is a clear increase in bullying. That's why I doubt the effectiveness of this week, because it mainly focuses on the fun activities that take place at school during that week. In my opinion, there should be more effort put into finding ways to spread this awareness, and that cannot be achieved in just one week. 

- Hannah Nys

Comments

  1. AinaMarch 4, 2025 at 11:23 AM

    Hi! I'm not sure if we have something similar in Catalonia. Honestly, this is the first time that I have heard about it, but I think it's a great initiative. However, considering that, as you mentioned, bullying increases after that week, I think it would be interesting to find a way to keep the “fight” against bullying present the entire year. It's important that thus awareness is not limited to just one week but is continuously integrated into daily life of schools (we have to see how). In addition, I think it would be beneficial to continue dedicating a specific week to bullying, but as a reinforcement within a broader and more long-term plan.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hannah nysMarch 10, 2025 at 1:57 AM

      I agree that their should indeed be a way to spread awarness the entire year. It's interessting to think about how you could do that. thinking about spreading quotes around the school, hang papers with the consequenes of bullying, what you can do when you see bullying... I don't know if it would work but it's worth the try :)

      Delete
  2. AnonymousMarch 9, 2025 at 9:50 AM

    Hi, while reading this, I thought it might be a bit off-topic if the main event was a concert. Although it is nice to combine this serious topic with a fun approach to teaching, perhaps the focus should be different? The knowledge transfer itself could also be made more playful. I could imagine that when children hear something about bullying in a frontal lecture, they quickly switch off. I would also find it interesting to find out exactly which factor contributes to bullying occurring more frequently again after this week

    ReplyDelete
  3. SophiaMarch 9, 2025 at 9:52 AM

    The comment above was mine:)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Brian Giner and PDA Bullying platform

  Following my last post, where I talked about the documentary Acoso Escolar from ARTE.tv, I caught my attention the figure of Brian Giner, so I decided to look into his book Golpeado pero no derrotado It’s a work for all ages in which he shares his personal experience during his school years. The author emphasizes that the book isn’t just meant for students, but also for parents and professors. Through his story, he hopes to raise awareness about the importance of taking action in cases of bullying. Apart from publishing his book, he also gives talks on bullying prevention to students in the first to third years of ESO in catalan high schools. Based on his own experience, Brian aims to shed light on cases like his so that victims don’t feel alone and can see an example of resilience. While researching his book, I came across a very interesting platform called PDA Bullying . It’s a collaborative initiative involving various institutions aimed at promoting best practices for the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Salutogenic approach and a personal opinion

  As I briefly mentioned in my previous post, on the website called PDA Bullying , among various resources, there is a section dedicated to explain the Salutogenic approach . After doing some research, it becomes clear that this approach gets its name because its main goal is to promote health and well-being . The platform aims to address bullying from this perspective, adopting a strength-based approach that focuses on individuals' potential and the creation of a cooperative community working toward a shared goal . It slightly reminds me of the No Blame Approach we studied in class, as it also refers to a method based on compassion and a solution-focused outlook , rather than assigning blame. Their aim is not simply to act against bullying, but rather to overcome it , moving beyond a simplistic understanding of bullying as just a dynamic between two individuals. Instead, they view it as a broader social process . For this reason, the protocol designed and implemented by...
Post a Comment
Read more

Guidelines for Bullying in German Schools

In Germany, the Ministry of Education published guidelines for schools on how to deal with bullying in schools. The following characteristics identify bullying: Intent to Harm, Repetition, Power Imbalance, and Helplessness. If bullying is detected, they provide teachers with 5 steps to follow. First, they should act immediately. This includes halting any aggressive behavior and ensuring the victim is safe. Also, they are obliged to assess if the already mentioned bullying criteria are met. Then, Teachers and school staff need to discuss the situation with colleagues to decide on the best course of action. This might involve engaging the victim and the bully in separate conversations and determining the next steps. Lastly, the victim should be provided with support to offer a safe school environment again In addition to the teacher guidelines, there are also ones for School Leadership Teams. First, they have to ensure that anti-bullying policies are being followed. This includes suppor...
Post a Comment
Read more