As part of the project “Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment for Children with Violent Forms of Behavior,” which is being implemented for the third consecutive year in the Sarajevo Canton—specifically in four elementary schools within the municipalities of Novi Grad and Novo Sarajevo—peer support groups have been organized as part of a broader “anti-bullying” initiative.
Considering that bullying incidents mostly occur in front of peers, one of the most important strategies for preventing peer violence is certainly the active involvement of students in this problem and ensuring the participation and intervention of bystanders through attempts to stop the bullying when it is noticed.
Peer support groups aim to provide direct support to victims of peer violence, draw the attention of the entire school community to the problem of violence among children and youth, and organize school events and workshops that promote positive values and create a “climate of care” within the school community—one that does not tolerate violence and provides a safe environment for everyone involved.
All members of the peer support group completed 15 educational workshops, during which they had the opportunity to learn in more detail about the problem of violence among children and youth, the factors contributing to its occurrence, as well as the possibilities for direct and indirect intervention in individual cases. They also underwent training related to improving their own communication skills and mediation—specifically, skills for successful conflict resolution.
The involvement of young people and joint work with teachers in solving such problems gives these efforts greater significance in the eyes of students, directly encouraging them toward real change and contributing to the creation of a more integrated school environment that provides a safe framework for the development of young people.
The participating schools in the project are: “Džemaludin Čaušević” Elementary School, “Čengić Vila I” Elementary School, “Avdo Smajlović” Elementary School, and “Fatima Gunić” Elementary School.
The project is supported by the In Foundation – Foundation for the Improvement of Social Inclusion of Children and Youth in BiH.
Maja Alihodžić, MA in Psychology
Project Coordinator