Seven young people participated online, on 13 February, in an educational session on bullying and bullying situations in detention centres, held by Mrs. Ioana Muresan, lawyer, trainer and CAB facilitator. The session was organised by Terre des hommes Foundation within i-Access MyRights project. The seven teenagers from Tg. Ocna Educational Centre and Brăila-Tichilești Detention Centre are members of the Child Advisory Board (CAB), a group who takes part in justice for children training sessions and who is involved in project activities.
”If a helpless person is beaten – a child, an old man - you can’t help but get involved; otherwise it would be like you had no soul”, said a teenager from Brăila-Tichilești Detention Centre during the session. One of his colleagues added: ”I saw boys fighting and I tried to break them up.”
Teenagers’ attitude was empathetic, compassionate: if they see some helpless people, they interfere in order to protect them.
Trainees defined the term ”bullying” and identified such situations in their personal experience. The participants understood that bullying actions can leave deep emotional wounds that could determine the victim to become aggressor for another person. Aggressed people can feel anxiety or depression. Consequences of bullying can persist in their adult lives, even in relationship with other persons, the trainer explained to them. If they are witnesses, they understood that they have to detach themselves from the situation so that they don’t become victims of bullying.
Teenagers confessed they witnessed bullying facts in detention centres. ”Each of them tries to show supremacy, to gain a position in the room, which leads to bullying situations”, Tg. Ocna group coordinator explained. However, in centres there are some regulations that the youth learn to observe.
Participants discussed about various forms of bullying and understood the serious danger of online bullying: in this case, the aggressor is unknown, the aggression may go public, and this is an accessible form of bullying that spreads fast.
What is recommended to them in bullying situations ? To stay calm, to seek help immediately (if they are victims), to record the incident or keep evidences, to talk to an adult who can take care of them.
Tg. Ocna teenagers were satisfied with what they learnt, while Tichilești trainees said that, for the next sessions, „any theme is welcome”.
The session was held within i-ACCESS MyRights project - artificial intelligence driven support for a smart justice with children in Europe, a project through which we help children in contact with the law to have easier access to information and to exercise their rights in criminal procedures.
The project is implemented in Romania by Terre des hommes Foundation and co-funded by the European Union.
