Preventing Bullying and Physical Violence in Schools and Supporting Individuals Exposed to it

Within the scope of this project, students who were subjected to physical and psychological violence were identified, and necessary efforts were made for their rehabilitation. In this context, individual and group therapies were conducted for these students by a specialist psychologist employed in the project, who provided full-day services at the school two days a week for one term. The current situation regarding physical and psychological violence and the factors leading to violence were identified through discussions with all stakeholders of the school (administrators, teachers, students, and parents). The data obtained from these discussions formed the basis for seminars and awareness activities aimed at school administrators, teachers, students, and parents.

Seminars were held for school administrators, teachers, and students on how to prevent physical and psychological violence in the school, and efforts were made to raise awareness on this issue. Necessary social and emotional skills training was provided to the parties to prevent violence. In this context, social and emotional skills training was given especially to school administrators, teachers, and students. In addition to the seminars given to all students on these issues, communication skills and conflict resolution skills training were provided to groups of 15 students, two days a week for one term.

In the last term of the project, visits were made to the families of problematic students, the status of students identified as problematic in the previous term was monitored, and individual activities were emphasized. Observations made by school administrators, teachers, and project implementers at the end of the project showed a noticeable change in the behavior of students prone to violence and with psychological problems. There was a significant decrease in the frequency of involvement in violent incidents and referrals to the school disciplinary committee among students who received education and individual therapy within the scope of this project, and these students were observed to exhibit fewer undesirable behaviors. Additionally, it was observed that the families interviewed cooperated more with the school in preventing their children's undesirable behaviors.