As part of the REsponding to VIolence against children in Schools and adjacent settings (REVIS) project, a national training for facilitators  who will work with children to prevent and reduce peer violence in schools and other educational institutions has been conducted. 

The overall aim of the REVIS project, coordinated by Terre des hommes Hungary, is to prevent, combat and respond to violence among children by transforming social and gender norms and behaviours, as well as to create opportunities for children to challenge social and gender norms that lead to peer violence.

The National Event for Training Teachers on Changing Social and Gender Norms around Violence in Schools took place on 14–16 October 2021, in Borovets (Bulgaria). The event was organised by Social Activities and Practice Institutea, and was attended by 20 teachers, psychologists and pedagogical counselors representing 10 schools in Bulgaria. The training was facilitated by qualified trainers on the topic of violence prevention.

After training under the established program, the facilitators will transfer their knowledge to a total of 10 schools in Bulgaria and will train students on the activities to develop their skills and capacity to identify and intervene in case of violence. The training of faciltators combines individual and group teaching methods in order to support group work, but also to enable participants to critically consider their own experiences and observations on violence between school-age children. The activities are also designed to inspire a change in school rules in order to prevent violence against children, which should be supported by school management.
The specific objectives of the training were:
• Professionals to improve and make sense of the knowledge of professionals in relation to peer violence in the school environment;
• To get acquainted with the modules of the training manual;
• To develop skills for leading training groups and to gain confidence in social and gender norms;

The specialists deepened their knowledge on a series of training topics, including social and gender norms around violence against children in their school and community, and how to engage students in activities to build on positive norms to address harmful norms related to violence against children.

In their feedback on the trainings, the participants from different cities shared a high degree of satisfaction, as well as confidence in the applicability of the acquired knowledge and skills. Participants shared that they liked the methods of presenting the topics, the well-structured program, the accessibility and comprehensiveness of the information and topics presented, the experience of trainers and professional training, practical focus of training.

“Feedback data show that participants identify the violence and bullying at school as a serious problem that we need to address children's attention.”

„The participants identified as key topic for building a positive environment at school. Such an approach can strengthen further interventions aimed at reducing violence against children.”

The programe is based on findings from a research study on social norms around violence against children and young people in schools in South Eastern Europe.