The Government has decided to create a working group to combat bullying in schools, which will present its first results in December, the Minister of Youth and Modernization announced today.
During a meeting at the Committee for Culture, Communication, Youth and Sports, Margarida Balseiro Lopes explained that the group includes a “personality of recognized merit” and representatives from the general directorates of Education and schools and the offices of the Ministries of Youth and Education.
This group will "study the phenomenon", propose a "national campaign on the devastating effects of bullying" and propose the creation of "materials for all those involved in the school environment, guides for technicians and teachers and infographics for students", as well as "concrete recommendations for the next school year" and a proposal for an "effective reporting mechanism", the minister told MPs.
In statements to Lusa, the minister explained that, by December, the group must «prepare a national campaign to combat and prevent bullying», create «a guide from an operational point of view for operational assistants to know how to act» in these cases, a guide for teachers and information for students, to «understand whether they are potential victims of bullying, but also the colleagues who are around them».
An infographic will also be created on “what bullying is, what people should do, and who they should talk to. This aspect is very important,” explained the minister.
“Another task of this group will be to propose a reporting channel for these types of situations” and “an inquiry will also be carried out” to make “a diagnosis of the current situation”, said Balseiro Lopes.
By December, these tasks must be completed and “a report with recommendations” will be presented so that the Government can analyze, “discuss and present measures for the next academic year”.
The group will also “listen to experts and entities related to the topic”, in order to gather other contributions, he added, giving the example of security forces – which have the Escola Segura project – or experts in online bullying.
The topic is “very important” and “we really have to address the problem in an integrated way”, so that schools actually implement the plan to combat bullying, said Margarida Balseiro Lopes.
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