The Council of Europe works in co-operation with the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children to prevent and addresses all forms of violence against children in schools. The most common of those violence is Bullying and it has wider social and economic costs as well as a long-term impact as the effects persist into adult life. And, types of Bullying have been changing according to the current situations. For instance, While Cyber Bullying was not a topic decades ago, now, it is the most common version of it. If Involvement in school, bullying can be a sign of future antisocial and criminal behaviour. Bullying occurs in all countries in Europe. Violence towards children, as defined in Article 19 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, takes numerous forms (physical, sexual or emotional abuse or neglect) and may take place in various contexts: at home, at school, within institutions, etc. The values of freedom, tolerance, respect for diversity and non-discrimination are main focuses of European societies. Bullying at schools damages these values. It is also a key factor in early school leaving, and has serious and long-term effects. It affects mental health and the academic performance of children.The theme of our Project is connected to 2015 Paris Declaration on promoting citizenship and the common values of freedom, tolerance and non-discrimination through education aiming “Inclusive education, equality, nondiscrimination “ and “tackling discrimination, racism, segregation, bullying, violence and stereotypes”. During the surveys applied at partner schools, the students were asked If They had ever been bullied or met a child WHO had been bullied?" %28 of the students answered "Yes". Also, 67% of the school Administrators and Teachers stated that They are trying to prevent Bullying through discipline punishments or formal ways but They do not have the expected impact on the issue especially in a long term. 74% of them thinks that We need to educate them How to behave well and How to be a good person and friend and How to protect themselves against bullying. The project will contribute; to raise awareness violence against children and the presence of school bullying to respect and strenghten diversity in our community and schools to promote peace and tolerance among pupils to enrich intercultural awareness to strenghten the Professional skills of teachers to decrease the failure and other problems resulted from Bullying in schools. We would like to work on the bullying problem in an international level because exchanging ideas and experiences would open us new doors to find practical ways to solve the problem while having a chance to create a different environment in schools through Cultural elements. "Be True, Do not Bully", BTDB, is a Project to be carried out in the concept of erasmus+ programme with the participation of 5 partners from Italy, coordinator, Turkey, Spain, Greece and Croatia. BTDB is aiming to combine the activities against Bullying with Cultural elemenths to strenghten the impact of those acts to prevent Bullying. The project will contribute to raise awareness violence against children and to respect diversity in our schools and to promote peace and tolerance among pupils of different European countries, to enrich intercultural awareness. We would like to work on the bullying problem in an international level. Because exchanging ideas and experiences would open us new doors to feel ourselves as European Citizens. Objectives of our Project are to reduce bullying at the schools by teacher trainings , students’ and parents” activities and pupil exchanging activities. Thanks to LTTAs, Teachers will strenghten their Professional Skills, Sudents will actively participate in activties. Participants will improve their Language and Ict skills. Participants will meet new educational methods, They will learn about new Cultures, Traditions and the Education policies of partners etc... Besides LTTAs, During BTDB there will be local, virtual, dissemination and sustainability activities to support our project and help us reach the objectives. Concrete results to be obtained at the end of each LTTA such as " Creating a digital guide about bullying and how to prevent it in English" will support the sustainability of the project. When all parts of schools become aware of the problem, its types and ways of solutions and practical applications, the failure regarding with Bullying will decrease, the motivation of teachers and students will increase. Bullying is not only a School problem but also a Social problem and participating in activities about a Social matter will help them to be active citizens. As it may be seen, all our activities are related to the prioritites and objectives of our Project and will lead us to reach Project objectives. BTDB will help students be better citizens of future.
The theme of our project was linked to the 2015 Paris Declaration. During surveys conducted at partner schools, students had been asked if they had ever been bullied. 28% of the students had answered "Yes". Moreover, 67% of school administrators and teachers had said they had tried to prevent bullying through various methods, but they hadn't seen the expected impact, especially long-term. 74% of them believed that education on proper behavior and self-protection against bullying was essential. The project aimed to address several key issues regarding bullying and its prevention. We wanted to tackle the bullying problem at an international level, believing that sharing ideas and experiences would lead to more effective solutions. The "Be True, Do not Bully" (BTDB) project was designed under the Erasmus+ programme, with participation from five partner countries. The primary goal of BTDB was to merge anti-bullying activities with cultural elements, thereby amplifying their impact. The objectives of our project were to reduce bullying at schools through teacher training, student, and parent activities, and pupil exchange programs. Thanks to LTTAs, teachers had strengthened their professional skills, students had participated actively, and participants have improved their language and ICT capabilities. They have learned about new cultures, traditions, and educational policies. Besides LTTAs, during BTDB, there were local, virtual, dissemination, and sustainability activities to support our project. Concrete results, such as the creation of a digital guide about bullying, were expected to enhance the project's sustainability. Once all parts of schools have become aware of the problem and potential solutions, the issues related to bullying are expected to decrease. The BTDB project was aimed to help students become better future citizens. In the changing world and the new age of education, our schools aim to improve the quality of education. For the 21st-century skills and competencies, in collaboration with partner schools, we conducted project activities to ensure all our students could be entrepreneurial, creative, and artistic, or to classify whether they succeeded, and to educate in an environment free from bullying and filled with friendship. We aimed to establish collaborative school environments for our teachers and students, create innovative spaces necessary for the use of ICTs where education can happen everywhere, teach how and where technology is, rather than fearing it, reduce peer bullying, and explain the consequences of bullying through the activities and mobility in our project. We collaborated to develop techniques that would allow our students to learn persistently and permanently, away from dull school environments. In the new age, we organized classroom settings to enable both our designed students and teachers to be innovative, creative, and have diverse perspectives. We prepared necessary materials, made plans, and aimed to improve quality by holding meetings and sessions for teacher and student training. We encouraged children's imagination to grow through activities designed to inspire students to use and learn from their own technologies.