Studies show that support among teenagers in schools is one of the most effective actions to combat and prevent bullying, discrimination and other forms of violence. In order to promote the active participation of students in improving the quality of coexistence in the school environment, the Study and Research Group on Moral Education (Gepem) has been encouraging, since 2015, the formation of "support among equals" teams. Located in 20 schools in different parts of the country, these groups met this week (26th and 27th), at the Unicamp Convention Center, for the 3rd National Meeting of Aid Teams in Brazil.
According to Telma Vinha, from the Faculty of Education (FE) at Unicamp and coordinator of the group alongside Luciene Regina Paulino Tognetta from Unesp, the projects with schools consist of a set of actions that include: assemblies for conflict resolutions, proposals mediation, discussions about experiences with young people and teacher training. Among them, the formation of help teams stands out. “Peer intervention is much more effective than adult intervention. With support from teachers, these boys form teams and receive training in empathy techniques, welcoming language, and how to approach without being invasive,” she reported.
“It’s incredible to be able to help other people,” said André Renato Pavan, who is in his third year of high school at Colégio Biocentro de Nova Odessa and has been part of the support group since 2017. According to him, the meeting made it possible to learn about the work developed by other schools and show a little of what your group has been doing.
Among the actions of these students, Telma Vinha highlighted situations ranging from provocations, abusive relationships and self-mutilation, to drug use, sexual abuse, suicidal tendencies and carrying weapons. “We, teachers, don’t know who self-harms, who talks about suicide, but our colleagues do,” she points out.
According to Telma Vinha, interventions in this area must be systemic and focus on improving the health of the environment, not on coexistence problems. “Projects have a much better chance of being successful when they are institutional, school-wide, rather than the initiative of a teacher or specific area,” she stated at the opening panel.
The panel was followed by the conference “Landscapes of dignity”, with Yves de La Taille, specialist in Moral Psychology, from the USP Psychology Institute. The professor conceptually distinguished morals and ethics, reflecting on justice, generosity and dignity. After the conference La Taille released his book “Landscapes of dignity in the musical work of Chico Buarque de Holanda”.
