Nonviolent Communication Institute to Launch Bullying Prevention Project in Schools

The Nonviolent Communication Institute will launch a bullying prevention project in schools with support of the Open Society Georgia Foundation. The one year pilot project will be implemented in two private schools in Tbilisi.

The project aims to prevent bullying in schools and develop an effective mechanism for private and public schools. The goal of the developed methodology will be to reduce various forms of abuse among peers and to improve the learning environment.

In the first stage, the working group will study the internal culture of the school, relationships between students, between students and teachers, and between teachers and parents, based on which, a mechanism to tackle bullying will be developed.

Training materials and methodologies will be developed and at the end of the program, trainings will be carried out for school community members (the school administration, staff, teachers, parents and students of different age groups) and other activities. The methodology based on the research results will be available for private schools and the Ministry of Education.

According to the project executives, planned cooperation with the Ministry of Education and distribution of the pilot program in private schools within the project has failed.

It should be noted that at the presentation of the project, the representative of the Ministry of Education, Salome Sharashenidze offered Nonviolent Communication Institute to resume negotiations and cooperation within the project. The Ministry of Education has not yet commented on the issue.

The Nonviolent Communication Institute is a non-governmental organization which aims to contribute to the positive development of juvenile justice.

Ana Akhalaia