Kids have been bullying each other for generations. The latest generation, however, has been able to use technology to expand their reach and the extent of their harm. This form of bullying has become known as CYBER-BULLYING and involves the use of information and communication technologies in an abusive way. Living in a GLOBALISED WORLD, cyber-bullying is a growing problem because increasing number of kids are using and having completely embraced online interactivity. As the online communication tools have become such a tremendous part of their lives, it is not surprising that some teens have decided to utilize the technology to be malicious or menacing towards others while communicating in ways that are often unknown by adults and away from their supervision. The fact that teens are connected to technology 24/7 means they are susceptible to victimization which affects our democratic European heritage and identitiy negatively. Studies show that children and teens that were exposed to cyberbullying feel hurt, sadness, anxiety, depression or other more serious mental health problems, anger, shame, fear, low-self esteem and have poor academic performance, inability to trust in others, suicide in extreme cases. Even though cyber-bullying problem has been around for over a decade, some people still don't see the harm associated with it. We first need to accept that cyberbullying is such a devastiating problem that will get more serious if ignored. The number of participants will be 180 including students, teachers and administrators. The students of different ages, who are interested in the project, have good human relations and cooperative behaviour will be the main figures of this Erasmus Project. As priority, students who are victimized of cyber bullying and whose families have economic problems or some handicaps will be chosen. The project will involve a group of teachers from different branches of education who will be responsible for developing the activities with the students and will be selected according to their experience and involvement in dealing with cyber bullying situations in school settings and everywhere. Families are also involved in this project and their colloboration is vital in a good project process. Both accommodation and some parts of awareness tasks in our project will be carried out by the great help of them. This project is our direct way to take precautions and find answers to the effects of cyber bullying on teens. The main goals are: - to understand and help the teens who are affected, who execute it consciously or unconsciously and others who are indifferent to all these facts around them, - to show empathy towards others, - to develope a non-cyberbullying ethos, - to uphold to fundamental human right of children to be free from abuse, - to offer teens support to develop skills to protect themselves against cyber bullying and victimization, - to eliminate cyber-based discrimination and harrasment, - to increase self-confidence and humanistic values, - to be able to accept democratic rules and values of our European Community. The activities during the project will be: anti-Cyber bullying training with workshops, questionnaires, school policy plans to be offered to the related ministry of each country, creating an e-learning platform, social media pages, project web site, printed materials, poster exhibitions, poems-lyrics, project song and its video, Run-Walk-Roll activity, Unity Day including many cultural and traditional activities. 'Stop Cyber-Bullying, Be Kind Online’ is a pedagogical project based on Kolb Cercle Methodology which argues that we learn from our experiences of life. We will also employ Waldorf methodology which aims to use learner-centred teaching methods and gives importance to meaningful learning. We will also use some of the group work techniques. As a result, we will have a great deal of knowledge and experience on Cyber bullying. Our teachers will teach lessons and organize events focused on this problem every year to raise awareness in the society. Students, teachers and families will learn the ways to cope with Cyber bullying, to take precautions and action, to raise awareness and be a bridge on the point of solution. We try to strengthen intercultural links with other European countries, to compare the different educational systems, different cultures, religions, habits and customs, and share our experiences with each other. This project will let students, parents and teachers have a great chance to broaden their horizons and prepare students for a highly demanding society within the framework of European values of democracy, solidarity and equality. Dissemination will be made in many ways via printed-published materials, social network and elearning platform, representatives of local, regional authorities and communities as well as local media, cooperation between educational authorities, institutions and in the wider public.
The project implementation started with a meeting of the teachers from the participating countries Portugal, Italy, Turkey, Romania and Germany. Spain had already withdrawn its participation at the beginning. The meeting, which involved a total of 15 people, took place in Meinersen. The individual schools presented their current situation regarding the topic of "cyberbullying". It was unanimously agreed that it is a very serious problem in all schools and all participants were very interested in working out strategies to deal with "cyberbullying". We decided on a project logo and defined activities for the further mobilities.Furthermore, we analysed the results of the survey that had been conducted before the meeting. We discovered similarities rather than differences, e.g. that statistically girls are more often affected by bullying than boys. Later, a local police officer gave us an overview of cyberbullying from a legal perspective. The presentation offered further advice and support, e.g. what to advise students who are being bullied, but also how to prevent bullying. We participated together in an anti-cyberbullying training and worked on solutions to fictional examples presented by our school social worker. We appreciated working in teams from different nations and with different experiences. The next meeting took place from 24.2. to 28.2. 2020 in Samsun/Turkey. The mobility took place according to the programme sent by the hosts to all partners a few weeks before the planned trip. The programme was in line with the grant application and was approved by all partners. All partners participated in the mobility with their students and were hosted by the Turkish team. We discussed and talked to the students about the problems of cyberbullying in our country and theirs. The students created a mural on cyberbullying while the teachers talked about the contents of the e-learning platform. Then there was a guest lecture by a university psychologist who educated us about motives of bullies. The students presented posters to raise awareness about cyberbullying and the best poster was selected. In addition, we teachers received an introduction to the design of an e-learning platform from a pupil who put a lot of effort into the explanations. Besides working and sharing on the topic of cyberbullying, we got an interesting insight into Samsun's environment and Turkish culture. The third meeting could only be held later than planned due to the Corona pandemic and had to take place as an online event because of further travel restrictions. The organising institution here was the school from Romania. First, all schools presented their school environment and their previous activities on the topic of "cyberbullying". Self-composed songs were performed, posters were designed, poems were written and role plays were developed and acted out. Together we watched a film on the topic, which then formed the common basis for further activities. The students shared their thoughts on the film via "Paddlet". Afterwards, some excerpts were staged by small groups with alternative actions. Possible prevention and intervention options were then worked out and offers of help for "victims" of cyberbullying were highlighted.In preparation, all participating schools had carried out various activities on the topic. The online event was described by the participants as very exhausting and the real exchange was missed. So all of them hoped that the further meetings would be real journeys. The fourth and fifth mobility were then also carried out in presence, only with the restriction that the students were not accommodated in host families, but in a hotel. The trip to Italy took place from 26.4. to 30.4.2022. The focus of the topic this time was on movement as a prevention against cyberbullying. Posters, slogans and banners were also designed together and presented to the school public. The fifth and last event took place in Portugal from 30.5. to 4.6.2022. The focus was on artistic and musical engagement with the topic of "cyberbullying". We designed T-shirts and a poster wall. The school band of the Realschule Meinersen had composed a song on the topic, which was presented via the Youtube channel.