EPEEC II
In the framework of the 3rd CSF and the OPECS II, Programmes for Strengthening Initiatives in Health Education 2006-7, ELPIDA in collaboration with the Office of Health Education of the Department of Secondary Education of Eastern Thessaloniki and Anatoliki SA designed and implemented the programme “Teenagers say no to violence”
Aiming to raise awareness of the educational community on violence prevention issues and in particular :
- exploring the nature and patterns of violence and its forms of expression,
- the training in soothing ways of dealing with and expressing anger,
- training in ways of self-protection from violent – aggressive behaviour,
- the increase in the ability to cope with the pressure of the peer groups.
8 schools of eastern Thessaloniki participated in the project: Panorama High School, N.Epivaton High School, 2nd Experimental High School of Thessaloniki, 3rd Experimental High School, 1st VETC of Thermi and the Lyceum of Thermi, with the participation of 18 teachers and 135 students.
Teachers were selected as a direct target group, as they can act as persons of influence in the lives of adolescents and as multipliers ensuring long-term and continuous interventionn in a large number of young people. Secondary school students were chosen as the final target group, given the increase in incidents of violence in everyday life and the difficulty of dealing with them by the educational community.
Specifically, the programme included:
Training seminar, 12 hours for high school teachers, who then applied the programme to their school students.
Student programme, 16 hours (8 two-hour sessions)
Supervision meetings for teachers – student group leaders, 15 hours (5 three-hour sessions).
- The students recognised that they had the opportunity to practice different roles in a controlled and safe context, in order to learn to cope better with real-life situations by testing their skills. They found that by playing a role, they were able to better “get into” the other person’s position and understand their point of view.
- Teachers stressed that through their participation in the project they recognised their personal attitudes, values and feelings related to violence, gained insights into how they can approach social issues and developed a special relationship with the students in their groups. They also felt that the project gave the students the opportunity to understand themselves better. They stressed that it was very useful to provide concrete material on which the implementation of the programme was based.