The issue of bullying throughout Slovakia, as well as its prevention, must be addressed at a supra-departmental level. Therefore, the Association of Cities and Towns of Slovakia (ZMOS) together with the Commissioner for Children Jozef Mikloško and the Association of Self-Governing Regions of Slovakia (SK8) initiated the first interdepartmental meeting, which was attended by representatives of all competent departments and areas. Such meetings should be held regularly every quarter.
"We are all aware that this is a key topic that concerns the future of Slovakia as a whole. We unite for the future. Because the children we raise and educate in schools will in the future be responsible for managing society at the level of the municipality or the entire state," stated ZMOS chairman Jozef Božik.
The aim is to talk about the issue of bullying at schools, in families or in institutions, but also about the promotion of mental health and the prevention of mental disorders in children and young people. However, it is also important to take concrete steps and measures so that children and pupils gain confidence in institutions, authorities and the environment and, if they have a problem, they are not afraid to report it. At the same time, it is important to pay attention to having someone to solve reported problems. The problem does not concern only the victims, but also the aggressors.
"If we have such catastrophic cases, we are all failing. It is our joint responsibility to take care of our children and create protection for them," noted Ondrej Lunter, Vice-president of the SK8 Association and Govenor of the Banskobystrica self-governing region. He considers it alarming that the system does not even capture many cases, he also talks about the problem of the bullying pandemic within individual schools.
At the first supra-departmental meeting, all competent departments or institutions were represented, for example by state secretaries, government plenipotentiaries, the prosecutor's office and other organizations. Meetings to exchange experiences, but also to evaluate individual steps and measures taken, should be held regularly. The next meeting in this format is scheduled for June 18.
The effort is to ensure that the situation gradually begins to improve and the cases decrease, since bullying cannot be "completely eradicated," according to Božik. However, the effort is also to support adults, i.e. parents, teachers or support and intervention teams. According to the children's commissioner Jozef Mikloško, in many cases, even those that were publicized, there was a lack of communication and professional knowledge of how to behave if a child reports such a problem.
Ukrainian children and their full integration into the educational process are also a separate topic.
(TASR)
