47 children and 9 teachers from Greece, Italy, Romania and Belgium gathered together at the European Feminist School of the Youth4Love2 program in Sofiko Corinthia, from July 2 to 7, to discuss school violence, stereotypes, personal boundaries and more! The children, who had already studied the phenomenon of violence in their schools as part of the program’s educational activities, had the opportunity for five days, to get to know each other in person, to participate in educational workshops, have fun and lay the foundation to become agents of change for a violence-free school.
So with plenty of joy and energy and after breaking the ice with each other, they started building the groups, with the first workshop dealing with sexual harassment, abuse and creating safe boundaries. This was something of particular interest to the children, who participated enthusiastically and sparked an exchange of views and thoughts. Then, after familiarizing themselves with mapping tools and techniques, they discussed how they feel about issues related to gender identities, stereotypes and gender-based violence. Also, they approached the subject of identity through different aspects, in order to understand how social identities are formed and what influences them either positively or negatively. On the fourth day, the children participated in workshops on issues of communication, campaigns and advocacy, while on the last day they evaluated all the activities.
In total, the children participated in 13 educational workshops, aimed at cultivating teamwork and cooperation, familiarizing themselves with the different aspects and types of school violence, as well as acquiring new skills in terms of leadership, communication and advovacy. The students really understood the power they have to shape and influence their environment by making different choices, while they gained the knowledge and tools to become agents of change for a fairer and more inclusive school!
