German campaigner brings anti-bullying programme to Malta

A boy teases one of his classmates and the two start quarrelling as the rest of the class looks on at the two students who are role-playing a bullying situation with the aim of finding a solution to such a scenario.

By acting out such situations, something that children commonly face at school, the students learn how to behave if they are bullied and also appreciate the negative effect it would have on their peers.

The role-playing is part of a violence-free education programme devised by German Oliver Henneke three years ago.

Mr Henneke is planning to internationalise his programme starting with Malta and will be here between April 3 and 12 when he will be visiting several schools.

A study carried out by the British Council last year showed that 62 per cent of students in Malta considered bullying as a problem. Education Minister Dolores Cristina had said guidance teachers and counsellors had to handle cases of bullying in schools on a daily basis.

“As in Germany – where we founded Gewaltfrei Lernen (violence free learning) – the first step is to get in contact with schools and the administration, potential sponsors and the media... Only together can we deal with the problem of bullying in schools and implement a non-violent learning atmosphere,” Mr Henneke said.

The programme uses movement – such as dance, acting and sports – to help children understand that bullying is a bad thing and how to deal with it. The programme has three main parts implemented in schools by a group of trained people.

Younger primary school children are asked to role-play bullying scenarios to come up with a solution.

Older children are taught, through acting and group dialogue, that if, someone beats them up, retaliation will only lead to the situation escalating. So they are taught how to get out of the situation through self-defence classes.

Finally, students are taught how to work in teams to help them realise they need each other to make things work.

The programme offers training to teachers who can then implement the sessions to students again in future. Parents are addressed through individual sessions and given hints on how to assist their children in overcoming conflicts.

“No doubt, the problem of bullying in schools seems to be worldwide and our way to use movement in a holistic way to tackle the issue seems to be a solution that can easily be adopted all around the world,” Mr Henneke said.

Anyone interested in learning more about the programme can call on 9944 4862.