Raising awareness against violence in adolescents

The Institute of Preventive Medicine, Environmental and Occupational Health, Prolepsis, within the frame of the European program "SuniaGeel – Combating Domestic Violence in Children, Women and Youth from Marginalized Communities", organized a two-day intervention for raising awareness against violence in adolescents, on October 19 and 22, 2012.

High school students from Oinofyta, a rural area of Attica, participated in the action "Say NO to violence". The action, which aimed to prevent and combat violence among students in schools or other places, was particularly successful. Students showed great interest and participated actively during the intervention. Under the guidance of experts and through experiential activities, teens discussed issues such as recognition and response to incidents of bulling among their peers. Moreover, participants were informed about the causes and consequences of the phenomenon. Emphasis was also given on the connection between school and domestic violence, since children, who live in a violent parental environment, could easily become either perpetrators or victims of bullying.  

The intervention ended with the creation of anti-violence messages and collages by the school students, aiming at raising awareness against violence within the entire school community -teachers, parents and peers.